Dragon Heart
by TM11
Summary: Natsu didn't think of the consequenses. He never did. That does not mean that there aren't some with which he has to deal with. He broke the rules and for that, he was punished. Now, no longer a member of Fairy Tail and with only Happy by his side, what will he do? He will move pass it! He will listen to his heart as he walks on this new path that life presented for him. OOC-ness!
1. A New Path To Follow

**Hi there, people! TM11 here, bringging you a new story, and my first Fairy Tail fic. Now, I know that you guys like RHoG, and some like ToP; but, this fic has been in my mind for some time now. Since I had a bit of writter's block with my Naruto fics and this one wouldn't leave my head, I decided to get to work on it. I already have most of the story planned and some chapters done. I will upload a new chapter every week, unless something happens. Don't worry, though, I won't be abandoning my Naruto fics, just be working on something else until I get over this writter's block.**

 **Now, about this story. This will be a Natsu-is-kicked-out-from-Fairy-Tail fic. He was kicked out after the Galuna Island Arc. Also, in this story, Lucy joined earlier, meaning that canon started on May 3rd and she joined on May 4th. You'll see why this was needed in the future. I don't know what pairing I should do and don't plan on thinking about it too much right now. I'll see what comes to be and then decide.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. If I did, I would make Lucy a better fighter. I do, however, own my plot, my spells and my OCs.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

' _Master'_ – Thoughts

" **Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

' _ **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 1 – A New Path to Follow**

* * *

 **18:55, June 4th, X784, Unknown Forest, Fiore**

Walking through a forest, were two lost individuals. One was a young man of possibly seventeen years old with salmon hair wearing a black vest, white baggy pants, black sandals, black wrist bands and a white, scale patterned scarf and carrying a backpack. The other one was a blue, winged cat carrying a green backpack. The two are Natsu Dragneel and his loyal partner Happy, two former Fairy Tail guild members.

As Natsu and Happy walked – flew in Happy's case – through the forest, the dragon slayer thought of what had happened two weeks ago.

You see, a week and an half ago, Natsu had Happy steal a S-Class request, so that they could complete it and show everyone in the guild that Natsu was strong enough to be S-Class. Also, since their friend, Lucy, was on their team, they convinced her to come too, so that she could enjoy the adventure too. The mission had seemed easy too, for a S-Class. They only needed to break a curse placed on an island called Galuna Island. No big deal, right?

Well, Natsu had been wrong at thinking such. First, before they could even get to the island, Gray had come had the request of Gramps, to stop them for going any further with the job. Natsu had quickly knocked him out and, fearing that he would tell Erza, put him on board of the boat of a sailor that had offered to take them to the Galuna Island.

After reaching the island, the group, with Gray now going with them willingly after learning of the past of the Island from Bobo, the sailor that had brought them there, went looking for the village that requested their help.

After being told about the curse and being requested to destroy the moon by the village chief, the Fairy Tail mages had decided to go explore the temple on the Island, where they then found the frozen form of Deliora, a demon from the Books of Zeref.

Gray had then told them of his past, of how his teacher, Ur, had sacrificed her life to imprison Deliora in an everlasting ice shell. They then learn from three individuals that their leader, Reitei, would be using a ritual called Moon Drip to free Deliora and, after confronting the leader, they discovered that it was non-other than Gray's former brother pupil, Lyon Vastia. Natsu had then run off towards the village, since Lyon had sent his three subordinates to destroy it.

After saving the village and defeating the two male subordinates, Natsu had slept in the woods, to get some rest before going after Lyon. The next day, Natsu went to the temple and, in a burst of creativity, had tilted the temple so that the Moon Drip would not fall down on Deliora and, thus, would not melt the ice.

He had then gone to confront Lyon; however, some old guy had interfered in their fight and used some strange magic to make Natsu fall down through the floor. The dragon slayer had come back for round two, but, Gray interfered and told him that he would fight Lyon. Natsu had then left in pursuit of the old man of before, who had used his magic to re-align the temple, not before making sure that Gray would not sacrifice himself like his former mentor.

Natsu had managed to get a good punch on that old man, who had called himself Zalty. However, he had gotten away after the dragon slayer had been distracted by the activation of Moon Drip.

Reaching the temple and going to Deliora's resting place, Natsu had found that the group was all there, along with Erza. As Deliora was freed from the ice, Natsu had stated that they could beat the demon if they all worked together. Gray, however, had once again tried to use Ice Shell and sacrifice himself to imprison Deliora once again. But, Natsu had stopped him once more, not wanting his rival to die. And good thing that he had, for, after Deliora had been freed, the demon had broke apart due to the ice sagging its life for the ten years that it had been imprisoned.

The group had then got back to the village and, after breaking the dome of crystallized Moon Drip residue, and thus making the villagers realize that they had been demons all along but had forgotten due to the memory loss after effect of the Moon Drip residue, went back to their village. Though, not before Erza telling the others that there would be punishment for stealing a S-Class job.

And they had indeed been punished, well, Natsu had. It had been Natsu the one to tell Happy to steal the request, and it had been him that had got the idea to bring Lucy along. It was also him the one that had knocked out Gray and, thus, partially forced him to go along with the job.

Because of all of this, and because of the danger that Natsu had put his guildmates in, Makarov had, albeit reluctantly, banished him from the guild, shocking everyone.

All members had complained about it, saying that it was too high a punishment. However, Natsu had accepted it and, after Makarov had erased his Fairy Tail tattoo from his shoulder, left along with Happy, who had decided to go with him since he was his father. Thus, both mage and cat had left Fairy Tail, leaving many of their friends behind, crying in sadness, Makarov included.

That had been almost two weeks ago. After leaving Magnolia, Natsu and Happy had decided to travel a bit, living of the wilderness and eating whatever they could catch.

At present time, though, they were trying to find a village where Giants were said to live. Natsu and Happy had heard about it in a town a couple of days ago and had traveled here immediately, after asking for directions of course. However, they had not counted for the forest to be so big and were now completely lost.

"Natsu, how are we gonna get out of this forest?" whined Happy.

"I don't know buddy. I've been trying to smell the scent of a Giant, but, haven't had any luck so far," said the dragon slayer.

"How do you know how a giant smells, Natsu? You never met one before," asked the cat curiously.

Natsu looked at his adopted son with a grin, "Giants look like us humans, only many times bigger! So, they must smell similar to us too!" he explained his logic excitedly.

"Well, either you are wrong about how a giant smells like or there aren't any giants around here. You would've smelt them already."

"Yeah, you must be right," Natsu agreed with a nod. "We should try to find a river or a lake. It's getting dark and we don't have much water left because someone used all of it to wash their fur," he said with a small glare at his winged companion.

"Hey, unlike you, I'm not as protected against hot temperatures! My fur was all sweaty, so, I had to wash it!" the flying cat argued in his defense.

"You didn't need to use almost all of our water for that, though!"

"We were in the middle of a desert! Where was I supposed to find water!?"

Whatever Natsu was going to say, it never left his mouth, for, when he opened it, he immediately closed it as he heard a noise with his dragonic ears, his head turning to the direction of said noise. It seemed like someone breaking a twig or something like that.

"What is it Natsu?" Happy asked as he saw his father figure turn his head around.

Natsu put his right índex finger on his lips motioning to Happy to keep quiet, "Shh, I heard something. I think there is someone around here," he said as he concentrated on his senses of hearing and smell, trying to locate who or what had made that noise.

A few moments later, he caught the smell of an individual to his northwest, "There!" he proclaimed as he looked and pointed at that direction. As Happy looked at where Natsu was pointing at, said dragon slayer heard whoever made the noise running away from them.

"Damn, they're running away! Come on, Happy!" the salmon-haired teen said as he went on hot pursuit of the individual, Happy flying right beside him.

The individual was not very fast, for Natsu and Happy were already able to see catch up enough with them to be able to see their figures, though, not enough to see any details about them, only that they were two individuals.

"Blaze, use your wings!" Natsu heard one of them, the taller one, plead to the smaller one. Natsu then looked at his winged companion and said, "Happy! One of them has wings!"

Happy nodded in understanding and quickly got behind the dragon slayer, grabbing onto his backpack before rising into the air. Just in time too, as Natsu saw the ones they were pursuing take to the skies as well.

Shooting flames from his feet to increase their speed, Natsu and Happy quickly cut the distance with the individuals ahead. When they were close enough, Natsu breathed in a good amount of air before launching his spell.

 **" Fire Dragon's Roar!"** he called out as he breathed a torrent of flames at the figures ahead, hitting them straight on and causing them to crash into the ground in a small clearing.

"One strike win! That was awesome, Natsu!" cried Happy in excitement. The dragon slayer grinned cheekily at his partner over his shoulder, "You bet Happy! I'm just that awesome!"

They quickly landed near the crash site and found the knocked out figures that they had been pursuing. The dragon slayer and winged cat were then quite shocked at what they saw.

One of the individuals, the taller one, was a pale-skinned young woman of average height with long, dark red hair that reached her waist. She had full lips and possessed an extremely voluptuous body, with very large breasts matched by similarly large hips, endowing her with a virtually perfect hourglass figure. She was wearing a light-brown, sleeveless sun dress of mid-thigh length, that showed quite a bit of her cleavage, and brown sandals.

However, it was the other figure that shocked them. It was covered in pale yellow fur that was longer on its haunches. Tufts of dark orange fur covered the insides of its large ears, and it had a white muzzle with longer fur on its cheeks. It had a pointed, black nose, small paws with no visible toes and slim legs. Its tail was long and had a dark orange tip. It also had a red ascot around its neck. Oh, and it had white, feathered wings sprouting out from its back too.

"A flying cat!?" Natsu cried out in shock, his eyes wide opened and mouth agape. He looked Happy and said, "There are more cats like you!?"

"There are more cats like me!?" The blue winged cat cried out with the same expression as Natsu, repeating the question his partner had asked him. He then got a thoughtful expression on his face, "Do you think he likes fish like me too?" he asked to Natsu, who sweatdropped at the stupid question that only Happy would ask in a situation like this.

Natsu then looked at the passed out girl and cat and sighed while scratching his head, "I guess we should mount camp and take care of them until they wake up." It was the least they could do for attacking them for no reason. Natsu wasn't one to attack girls, unless they were like Erza and they were sparring, so, he was feeling a bit guilty for attacking such a pretty girl.

' _Wait, pretty!? Where did that come from?'_ he thought a bit surprised from that stray thought that had crossed his mind. He shook his head to clear it and then looked at the downing sun, "The sun is setting down. I'll go get some food, while you stay here and take watch over them. Ok, Happy?" he asked.

Happy turned away from his thoughts of fish and nodded at the salmon-haired teen, "Sure thing, Natsu. You can count on me, aye!" he declared as he puffed his chest.

Chuckling at the blue cat, Natsu placed the red-headed girl and the her cat partner under the shadow of a tree and beside each other. Taking his backpack off his back, the dragon slayer then placed it beside the girl and left Happy with them as he went back into the forest to hunt for their dinner.

* * *

 **20:03, June 4th, X784, Unknown Forest, Fiore**

Flare was in pain; her whole body hurt. The last time that she had been hurting this bad was after one of Atlas-sama's training sessions. As she opened her eyes, she took account of her surroundings. She could feel wood touching her back and grass under her butt, which meant that she was leaning against a tree. She tried to remember what had happened to her to be in so much pain and gasped as she remembered.

She had been walking around the forest, gathering some plants for medicine and food for herself. There must be more than enough food for her in a village full of Giants, but, she still liked to cook and to provide for herself.

The redhead had gone to the forest many times, always accompanied by her loyal friend Blaze, a winged cat that she had found as an egg on the outskirts of Sun Village. She knew that there were dangers in the forest, but, she also knew that Blaze and she were capable of defending themselves from most of them, or get away fast enough if the need be. So, she hadn't been that much worried when she walking around the forest, thinking that it would be the same as the other times.

She had been wrong, though. During her search for edible plants, she had smelt a new scent, one similar to her own and Atlas-sama's. A human scent and dragon scent mixed together, and there was the scent of a cat too. She had let her curiosity get the better of her and followed those scents, only to find, to her shock, another human, just like her, though different too, and a winged cat, just like Blaze, arguing with each other.

Flare had hidden herself immediately, telling Blaze to do the same. She had never seen or been in contact with another human, so, she did not know how to act or if they were dangerous. With that thought in mind, she had chosen to be cautious and had tried to leave unnoticed. To her bad luck, she had stepped on a twig, alerting the other human of her presence. She had immediately started to run away, least they try to harm her, Blaze flying beside her.

Their pursuers were fast, though, and quickly caught Blaze and her; even after Blaze had taken the two of them to the skies, their pursuers just doing the same and catching on once again. The last thing she remembered after that was feeling hot, very hot, like she had been burning, and then crashing into the ground. Darkness had been all for her after that.

"Oh, you're awake!"

Flare heard someone say and, looking up, she saw a boy with pink hair smiling at her from where he was sitting near a bonfire, a piece of meat in his hand. She immediately deduced that it had been him that had attacked and made Blaze and her crash and tried to get away. Her body, however, was too hurt to move quickly.

Seeing her trying to move, the pinkette told her, "You shouldn't move; you're still hurt," he advised, before a guilty look came upon his face, "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have put that much power into my Roar. I heard you near us and smelt your scent. Since we were lost, I thought you could help us. I guess I got too caught on on the pursuit. I wasn't expecting you to have a winged cat, like Happy here," he ranted as he tried to explain his actions and apologize.

His eyes then widened and he said, "Oh, yeah, I'm Natsu, Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer," he introduced himself with a grin. He then pointed at the blue cat sitting across him, who was biting on a fish while looking at her, "And this guy here, like I said, is Happy."

"Aye! Nice to meet you," the cat greeted with a full mouth.

To say that Flare was shocked, would be an understatement. She had never thought that she would ever meet another human, much less a dragon slayer. And then there was another cat like Blaze, which surprised her even further. She was still nervous, after all, the boy in front of her was the one to knock her out, even though he apologized for it. She wasn't sure she could trust him, but, his apology seemed sincere. And he hadn't done anything to her while she was knocked out.

She was about to introduce herself, but, a groan on her right stopped her. Looking at her right, she saw her friend, Blaze, leaning against the same tree as she. His eyes opened a bit as he groaned again.

"Blaze!" she called out, relieved that her best friend was ok, if a bit roughed up, like she was.

The yellow cat looked at her with groggy red eyes, "F-Flare...?" he mumbled. His eyes then shot wide open as he seemed get a hand on his senses and started looking around. Upon seeing the pinkette, Natsu as he had said his name was, and the other cat, Happy, her best friend got up, with some difficulty, and got in front of her.

"Who are you!? I won't let you hurt Flare! You'll have to get through me first!" he yelled in her defense.

"Hey, hey, I didn't hurt her. Well, I guess I did, but, I didn't mean to! I got all fired up and overdid it!" Natsu said, his hands raised in a non-threatening way, as he tried to placate Blaze. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you guys, ok. I already apologized to her and all. We just want to find this place called Sun Village. Right, Happy?" he asked as he turned to his companion.

"Aye! We were told that there were Giants there and Natsu wants to fight one!" said Happy.

Hearing that, Flare was shocked again. Blaze too, but, he still didn't move from his spot in front of the redhead. Fight a Giant? Was he crazy?

Finding her voice, Flare voiced her question, "W-Why w-would you want t-to fight a Giant?" she stuttered out.

The pinkette grinned at her and responded, "Because they must be very strong! I want to be the strongest mage ever, so that I can have the strength to protect my friends and find my father! To become strong, I need to fight and beat strong people!"

Flare didn't know what to say. She was still a bit shocked and scared of being in the same place as another human. Blaze, though, didn't have any problems in saying his mind, "You're crazy if you think you can beat a Giant."

Instead of being angry, like Flare thought Natsu would be, the pinkette laughed, "You're not the first one to call me that, and probably won't be the last. I'm crazy? So what? I won't know if I can beat a Giant or not until I try, won't I?" he asked with that grin still on his lips.

Before Blaze could respond, they all heard a growl coming from the redhead. Flare's face lit up in embarrassment, while Natsu only grinned.

"Would you like some boar?" he chuckled as he took the leg of the cooked boar that was above the bonfire and presented it to her.

"We don't take things from strangers," said Blaze, though, the meaning of his words was lost as his stomach also growled in hunger. It was Happy's time to offer food to his fellow talking cat.

"Do you want some of my fish? Fish is the best thing in the world! Aye!" the blue cat offered as he took another fish out of his backpack.

Flare's stomach growled again, so, she decided to trust them, since they hadn't done anything harmful to them, except for knocking her out, though, that had been already apologized for. So, accepting the leg of boar meat from Natsu, she smiled at him in thanks and, after smelling the meat for anything poisonous, and finding nothing, she took a bite. It was toasted, just like she liked it.

"It's good," she said.

Seeing his partner eating without problems, Blaze decided to trust these two too and bit his fish, which led to a shocking expression coming to his face. "This…this…" he mumbled.

"What?" asked Natsu and Happy curious, while Flare looked at the yellow cat with fear for his wellbeing.

"This is the best thing I ever ate!" the cat said as he started munching on the fish with gusto.

"I told you so! Aye!" Happy cheered, while Natsu could only laugh and Flare giggled. Natsu turned to the pinkette.

"So, can you help us reach Sun Village?" he inquired.

Flare thought it over. Natsu seemed to be a nice boy, and she would be lying to herself if she said that she didn't want to find out how other humans were like. Plus, no matter what he said, she couldn't really believe that he could ever do anything to a Giant. They were too strong for that. With that in mind, she decided to help them.

"Yes, Blaze and I live there and know how to get there. We'll take you there tomorrow, since it's already dark," she answered and then added, "Oh, and I never introduced myself. I'm Flare Corona."

"And I'm her guardian and companion, Blaze! Yeah!" Blaze introduced himself with a grin, before going back to eating his fish.

"Nice to meet you, Flare and Blaze. And thanks for helping us," the dragon slayer thanked. "Man, I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm all fired up!" he cheered.

Flare giggled at Natsu's eagerness while thinking, _'Maybe I should take him to meet Atlas-sama. He did said that I would one day meet a great friend. Maybe Natsu is that friend.'_

* * *

 **08:00, June 5th, X784, Sun Village's Gate, Fiore**

"Wow! It's huge!" yelled Natsu and Happy as the group came out from the forest and saw the gate that led to Sun Village. Like they said, the gate itself was huge, arching above them tens times higher that anything they had ever seen, including Natsu, who had seen a dragon, and they aren't known for being little.

As they approached the gate, Flare said, "Happy, you'll have to carry Natsu and follow Blaze and I. The village is very big, so, if we want to meet Atlas-sama quickly, we'll have to fly."

The blue cat nodded from his position on top of Natsu's head, "Aye! You can count on me."

"Hey, Flare, who is this Atlas you're talking about?" asked the dragon slayer.

"Oh, he's the guardian of the Sun Village. He lives on a mountain not far from here," she explained and then pointed up ahead at a mountain with the biggest flame that Natsu had ever seen, "Look, that's Atlas-sama, also known as the Eternal Flame by the Giants here."

"SO BIG!" yelled both Natsu and Happy again. The fire dragon slayer then started to drool, "I wonder how good those flames taste," he was then hit upside the head by Blaze's tail.

"Baka! You can't eat those flames. They aren't normal flames, they're a dragon _made_ of flames! The protector and guardian of this village!" chided the yellow cat from his place on Flare's right shoulder.

At hearing that, Natsu's body immediately froze. He then looked at Blaze dead in the eye, "Did you just say that those flames are a dragon?" he said in a very serious tone that Flare did not think he was capable of.

Blaze was a bit disturbed by the sudden seriousness of the pinkette, but, nodded nonetheless, "Yes, he's a fire dragon and hee was the one who created the Sun Village. His name is Atlas Flame."

Getting the confirmation that he needed, Natsu dashed in the direction of the flame while shouting, "LET'S GO HAPPY! THIS ATLAS COULD KNOW WHERE IGNEEL IS!

"Aye!" the blue cat cheered as he brought out his wings and took Natsu into the skies, carrying him in the direction of the of Atlas' mountain.

"Wait!" yelled Flare, but, they were too far to hear already. She then looked at her partner and said, "We must follow them, Blaze." The yellow cat nodded, brought out his own pair of wings and took Flare to the skies, following the other winged cat and the dragon slayer ahead of them.

* * *

 **08:10, June 5th, X784, Atlas Flame's Mountain, Sun Village, Fiore**

Natsu and Happy quickly reached the top of the mountain where the biggest ball of flames that they ever saw rested. The fire dragon slayer quickly approached it and yelled, "OY! ATLAS FLAME!"

The pinkette and cat waited for a few seconds, until the flame started to move and change form. A massive body, a pair of wings sprouting from its back, two pairs of legs, all filled with claws, a tail and finally a head. All characteristics of a Dragon, the only difference between this one and others of its race, would be his body being completely made of flames, giving the dragon an overall impression of a burning skeleton.

 **"Who dares to call out the name of the mighty Atlas?"** the huge dragon asked as he looked down on Natsu and Happy.

Natsu took a step forward and said, "I do! My name is Natsu Dragneel! Son of Igneel, the Fire Dragon King!"

Looking down at the dragon slayer with a more focus, Atlas' eyes flashed with recognition. Though, it was only for a second, so, neither Natsu or Happy noticed.

 **"The Son of Igneel you say? I can smell his scent on you, yes. Very well, what do you want, Son of Igneel?"** he asked as he noticed Flare and Blaze approaching and landing near them.

"I want to know where my father is! He left me on June 7th of X777 and I want to know why! I need to find him and beat his ass for leaving me!" declared the pinkette with determination in his eyes.

' _He was abandoned by his father?'_ thought Flare with sympathy. She also had been abandoned as a baby, only for the Giants to find and raise her. She knew of how Natsu must have felt.

Atlas was silent for a few moments before answering, **"Unfortunately, I do not know of my friend's whereabouts, Son of Igneel."** At hearing this, Natsu's head dropped. He had hopped that Atlas could have known of his father's location. **"However,"** the dragon started, making Natsu look up at him once again, **"I do know of my friend's personality. He would never abandon his own son without a very good reason. Do not think that he did so because you're weak. Igneel would've never taken you in if he thought so. In his own words: 'Everyone starts weak, but, as they face the hardships of life, they become stronger everyday.'"** He quoted.

Natsu smiled at hearing his father's words once again. Seeing him smile made Flare, Happy and Blaze smile too, happy for their friend. The pinkette's face became serious again as he said, "Atlas-oji, I have a request that I want to ask from you."

The flaming dragon chuckled at the dragon slayer's way of addressing him and said, **"Then speak of it, Son of Igneel."**

"I want you to train me! Help me finish Igneel's training in the Dragon Slayer Arts!" the pinkette declared, which shocked everyone, minus Atlas that is.

The dragon locked eyes with the dragon slayer, their contest went on for a whole minute, neither backing down, until Atlas nodded, **"Very well. I shall train you, Son of Igneel. On one condition."**

"Name it!" the pinkette said. He would do anything to become stronger.

" **You shall help Flare with her own training and education. She has lived in this town since she was little, so, she does not know anything of the world outside, the world of you, humans. You shall help her gain the knowledge and strength that she will need to adventure through the world outside of this village's walls. In exchange, I'll help you become stronger than you could ever think of! This I, Atlas Flame, the Purgatory Dragon, declare!"** the dragon declared.

Natsu's lips turned into a grin that threatened to split his face in half, "You got it, Atlas-oji! I'M ALL FIRED UP!"

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter! I hope you guys and girls liked it. If you did, please review! I love reading your opinion.**

 **Now, for a little challenge to you. I based Blaze's looks on a creature for another anime. My challenge to you is: What is the name of said creature?**

 **You have until my next uptade, which will be on March 29th, to give me your answers. The prize? A spoiler! Whoever gives me the right answer can ask ONE question about anything about this fic. What will happen next? Will Natsu join Fairy Tail again? Anything!**

 **Now, before I leave, here is a clue for you. The name of the creature rhymes with Kin.**

 **That's all I'm going to say. See ya in a week, on March 29th.**


	2. Training and New Friends

**Hi, people! TM11 here with chapter 2 of Dragon Heart!**

 **Now, before we move to the chapter, I will inform you of the answer to the challenge in chapter 1. The answer was the pokémon Fennekin from Pokémon XY. For those of you that tried and guessed right, congratulations and I hope that the spoilers given to you were satisfactory.**

 **Now, on to the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters; Hiro Mashima does. Though, I do own the original arcs that will appear in this story and the OCs.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

' _Master'_ – Thoughts

" **Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

' _ **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 2 – Training and New Friends**

* * *

 **06:05, July 4th, X784, Sun Village, Fiore**

The Sun Village is located in one of Fiore's deserted areas. Surrounding it is a number of large, elongated rocky formations, jutting up from the ground and extending their slender shape towards the sky; smaller rocks are found throughout the place. Despite its position in a desert, trees grow freely in the village's vicinity, even creating small forests. A rocky mountain of notable height isn't located far from the town; this is where Atlas Flame, the Purgatory Dragon, the Eternal Flame, resides at.

Running along the perimeter of this great mountain at this ungodly hour, is none other than Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon Slayer and son of Igneel, the Fire Dragon King.

It had been a month since Natsu had arrived at Sun Village and started his training under Atlas. On the day that he had arrived, Natsu had been shocked to learn that Flare was a dragon slayer, just like him, and knew Purgatory Dragon Slayer Magic, taught to her by Atlas himself.

After that, Flare and Blaze had introduced Natsu and Happy to some of the Giants living in the village. Most of the Giants were happy to have another human in the village, because that way Flare would not feel as left out as most thought she did. The same was felt for Happy staying.

Some others were indifferent, as long Natsu and Happy did nothing against them, they couldn't care less. In the end of the day, the Giants had thrown out a party in honor of their new citizen, which made Natsu remember the parties at Fairy Tail; but, he had fun nonetheless. He even managed to get Flare to have fun, once more getting a shock from her when he saw her dance, which she did with a passion that he had never thought possible from her, since she seemed so shy.

The day after, Natsu, who had slept on a cave in Atlas' Mountain, had been woken up by said dragon, at six AM, and told to run along the mountain; as a warm up for his training. Atlas had said that the Son of Igneel would need to increase his stamina, strength and speed even more, if he wanted to be able to one day beat a dragon, or stand as an equal besides his father.

This had motived Natsu, just as Atlas had planned, and, for two hours, the dragon slayer had ran non stop, running a total of 3 laps around the mountain, before dropping face first into the ground. Atlas had let the pinkette rest for half an hour, before giving him some flames to eat and telling him to do one thousand push ups, one thousand pull ups and one thousand sit ups. Once he was finished, he was told to repeat the sequence until lunch time.

After lunch, Natsu had to help Ironghigh, the only metalsmith in the village. He had to carry big pieces of many types of different metals and help the giant forge it into a weapon. While doing it, the giant would tell Natsu how to evaluate the weapon through its weight, length, its metal's density, purity, etc. Everyday Natsu would learn something new about a metal or a weapon. How to tell its worth, how old it was and in which ways it could be used in battle.

At evening, Natsu would go meet with Flare and have a spare with her until sun down. Then, he would tell her about all of the jobs that he had done as a mage of Fairy Tail, explaining anything that she did not understand, such as the interactions between him and his guildmates, along the story.

After dinner and until bed time, Natsu would spend time with Atlas, learning about Dragon culture and history, about the Purgatory Dragon's adventures and battles; the ones that he liked the most being the ones against his father. Though, the other day, Natsu had decided to go to a bar with Ironhigh and a few of the giant's friends. He ate as he heard the Giants talk about past battles or conquests. It was a lot of fun and informative for the dragon slayer.

* * *

 **13:00, July 4th, X784, Sun Village, Fiore**

After his morning training and eating lunch, Natsu used his flames to fly to the familiar smith shop of Ironhigh, Happy staying with Flare and Blaze since he couldn't take on the heat of the giant forge.

As Natsu made his way through the village, he couldn't help but admire it.

The main building material appeared to be stone, with structures composed of bricks, sometimes sporting elaborate decorative motifs, varying in height, resembling either houses with pitched roofs made of squared tiles, or towers, with angular sections. Windows were simple openings in the walls, though skillfully carved, mostly sporting an arched upper edge, lacking any glass. Wood was present in the form of beams outlining sections of larger structures, such as holding up a large bell on top of a stone building, and the same went for straw, which was visible on some minor eaves. Pieces of light cloth, either flags or clothes hanged out to dry, were shown secured here and there to horizontal ropes, suspended above buildings. The village was split on different heights by the ground's structure, with some buildings even integrating the rocky environment itself in their forms; all buildings fitting their gigantic owners in size.

Natsu quickly reached his destination, a building just like those around the village, only this one was the only one with a sign of a hammer and a sword making a cross above the entrance. There is a terrace at the front of the shop, where a rocking chair is situated. The interior of the shop is lined with weapons shown on top of tables or hung on the wall. A kiosk was situated at the back of the shop, where buyer and vendor can make their transactions. A workshop is attached to the back of the shop, where the bellows, furnace, polisher, and anvil are located. (Lisbeth's Smith Shop)

Natsu quickly made his way to the workshop through the backdoor behind the kiosk and saw that, near the forge, hammering the blade of a just made sword, was Ironhigh. The giant had black hair that went to his shoulder blades and was tied in a low ponytail. Thick, black beard, and charcoal colored eyes. He was topless, letting the world see his chubby figure and haired arms, and wore brown pants, held up by a black, leather belt and tucked in into black boots, over which he had shin bracers.

"Hey there, Ironhigh!" greeted the pinkette as he came near the giant, landing on a table next to the anvil.

The giant stopped hammering as he took notice of the smaller man, "Oh! Good afternoon, Natsu. How was your training?" he greeted and asked as he brought the blade of the sword closer to his eyes to inspect it.

"It was great! I can feel myself get stronger everyday!" the dragon slayer said. "So, what are we going to work on today?"

Ironhigh did not answer immediately, to focus on evaluating the blade of the sword on his hands. Nodding to himself, he hanged the sword on the wall and then looked at Natsu, "We will go over daggers, knives and such today. But, first, tell me, what you know about a shield?" he asked.

Natsu was already knew that the question was coming. On his first day here, Ironhigh had told him that he would ask question about either weapons or metals that they had already made or gone over in theory whenever he wanted. So, kneading his eyebrows in concentration, the pinkette answered, "A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace, battle axe or similar weapon to the side of the shield-bearer.

Shields vary greatly in size, ranging from large panels that protect the user's whole body to small models, such as the buckler, that are intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields are made of relatively deep, absorbent, wooden planking to protect soldiers from the impact of spears and crossbow bolts, others are thinner and lighter and designed mainly for deflecting blade strikes."

Nodding his head, pleased with the response, "A resumed version of our last lesson, but, that's good enough. For now." They then went on about making the requested weapons of the day, the giant explaining to the pinkette everything that needed to be known about a dagger.

* * *

 **18:41, July 4th, X784, Atlas' Mountain, Sun Village, Fiore**

Natsu and Flare were both sitting on the highest branch of a tree near the newly named Dragon's Den, which was the cave that Natsu and Happy had slept in, in their first stay in the village. It was also Flare and Blaze's home, so, they shared it. It was big enough to house a dragon, so, enough space for the four of them was not missing.

As they sat there, both dragon slayers watched the sun set while they talked. Happy and Blaze were trying to catch some fish in the lake on the east side of the village, so they were both alone.

"…So, after seeing all of the happy faces around us, I decided to name him Happy," finished the dragon slayer with a smile. He had just told his fellow dragon slayer how he had found Happy's egg, thought that it was a dragon's egg, hatched it alongside Lisanna and then why he had named him Happy.

"That's a very interesting story, but, there's something that I don't understand," she said with a confused expression on her face.

"What didn't you understand?" this was normal for him, since there was always something that she didn't understand from his stories and that he would try to explain to her to the best of his ability.

"What is a marriage?" she asked.

"A marriage?" he grunted as he thought about it. He had been told about it once by Erza, though, that was a long time ago. "Hm, if I remember correctly, a marriage is some kind of ceremony that two people that love each other go through to prove that their love for each other is eternal. It's a lot similar to dragon mating," the dragon slayer explained to his fellow dragon slayer.

"Ok, but then, what is love?" Flare asked confused. She had never heard the word before.

Natsu gave the redhead an incredulous look as he asked, "Seriously? You don't know what love is?" At her shook of the head, he scratched his head in an attempt to help organize his mind as he thought of a way to explain love.

"As I understand it, love is like a fire inside your heart. The stronger the feelings you have for someone else, the stronger the fire is. However, just like there are different types of flames, there are different types of love. The love of a sibling, the love of a parent, the love of a mate. There are many more types of love than these three, but, each one of them is different from the other," he explained.

"It seems complicated," Flare commented.

"Yeah, it is, but, if I were to give an exemple, think of it this way. Atlas-oji, Blaze, Happy and I all love you in a way. Happy and I love you as a friend, Blaze loves you as a brother from what I can tell, and Atlas-oji loves you as a father."

"What's the difference between the love of you three then?" she asked curiously, though, she was happy to know that Happy and Natsu were her friends. While she liked the Giants and Atlas very much, she never had a human friend.

"The difference between our love is complicated to explain. But, I think it would be that my and Happy's love is weaker than Blaze's and Atlas-oji's. Though, at the same time, their love is more or less equal," Natsu said. Igneel once had said that the love of a parent is stronger than any other, however, Natsu did not believe as such right now. If that was true, then, why had Igneel leave him all alone again?

Flare took notice of Natsu's saddened face, so, believing that it was something to do with his father, she tried to cheer him up, "Hey, don't worry, you'll find Igneel-san one day. And Blaze and I will be there with you until you do," she said with a smile.

The pinkette looked at her, surprised at the meaning of her words, "You mean you two will be coming with us when Happy and I leave?"

The redhead nodded with the smile still on her face, "Yes. I've talked with Blaze and Otou-sama about it and I've come to the decision that it's time that I leave Sun Village and go explore the world. Otou-sama has no problem with it as long as I go with you."

Natsu's lips moved into an excited grin as she finished talking, "Awesome! We'll have some great adventures, I just know it!" The dragon slayer punched his left palm with his right fist in excitement, "Yosh! I'm all fired up!"

Flare could only giggle at the pinkettes antics.

* * *

 **15:33, July 8th, X784, Forest around Sun Village, Fiore**

At this time of the day, the dragon slayers of Sun Village and their cat partners were walking through the forest around said village.

"Where are we going again?" asked Blaze from his position on top of Flare's head.

"It's our day off, Blaze, and I the idea of taking a walk around the forest," explained the redhead. "Plus, there is this place that I want to show Happy and Natsu." The two referred mages looked at their female friend from her left.

"Oh, does this place have fish?" asked Happy from his position on Natsu's right shoulder, already drooling at the idea of eating his favourite food.

Flare giggled at the blue feline before saying, "Sorry, Happy, but no."

"What is so special about it, then?" asked the pinkette dragon slayer with a curious expression.

"You'll see," she said vaguely with a smile.

After walking for another ten minutes, the group came to a stop at the end of the tree line. In front of them was a beautiful visage that, in both Natsu and Happy's mind, was totally worthy of the boring walk they had to do to get here and the lack of fish. You see, in front of the group of four, was a flower field that went on as far as they could look. The most interesting thing, though, was that the field was full of sunflowers.

"Beautiful…" Natsu mumbled in awe. He had always liked nature, after all, he had lived in the wild ever since he could remember. He had, however, never seen such a sight. The light hitting the sunflowers, the breeze coming from the south and making them shake a little, the sweet scent of said flowers and the sound of nature all around him. All of this brought a small, content smile to the face of the hyperactive dragon slayer. It all looked so peaceful.

"Hey, look, there's someone else here," Blaze alerted as he pointed at the far left of the flower field. Looking at where he was pointing at, the group saw someone sitting far ahead of them, so far that they could only see their humanoid silhouette, which meant that it was a human.

"That's strange. Why didn't we smell them when we got here?" Flare thought out loud.

"Maybe the scent of the flowers is masking their scent?" Happy theorized.

"I don't know...maybe…" she mumbled.

"Well, anyway, let's say hi to them. If they're hostile, we'll beat their ass. If not, then we see what we do next," said Natsu as he and Happy made their way to the figure, Flare and Blaze following behind them a moment later.

As they came closer to the individual seating on the ground, they noticed that they were male, or at least looked like he was a male. Their confusion was justified, since the individual's appearance was quite…plant-like. His head resembled a slightly gnarled tree trunk, whilst his hair resembled a leafy treetop. His attire consisted of a high-collared kimono tied with a belt, loose trousers, a coat, and a pair of boots. He had his eyes closed and was sitting cross legged, his hands resting on top of his knees.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting to have company on this fine evening. Nonetheless, good evening young men and lady," the tree-like man greeted without even opening his eyes. At least they could now tell that he was a male from the sound of his voice.

"Wow…You look so cool!" exclaimed Natsu while grinning. The tree-like man laugh happily at the antics of the pinkette.

"You make this old man happy, young man. Not many would say the same thing should they look at my features. Ah, the innocence of the young," he mused while looking at the pinkette.

"Anyway, where are my manners? I'm Warrod Sequen, Protector of Nature, pleasure to meet your acquaintance younglings," the now named Warrod introduced himself.

"Hi there, I'm Natsu Dragneel! And this is my buddy, Happy!" Natsu introduced himself and Happy with a friendly grin. The man seemed like a good person, and someone that calls himself the 'Protector of Nature' couldn't be a bad person.

"Aye!" his partner cheered. Glad to meet a new person that could maybe give him fish too.

"A pleasure to meet you, Natsu and Happy. And who might you two be?" he asked as he looked at the redhead and her companion.

With a shy smile, she introduced herself, "I'm Flare Corona, nice to meet you, Warrod-san," she then gave the tree-like man a little bow at the end of her greeting.

"And I'm her guardian and best friend, Blaze!" the yellow cat introduced himself with a grin and while pointing his paw at his inflated chest, which brought chuckles from the green haired elder.

"I'm sure that she's in safe hands then. You seem to be a very capable individual," he said.

"You can bet I am, Warrod-san!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Haha, please, no need for the –san, it makes me feel old. Just call me Warrod. Oh, have a seat too, it makes this old heart good to have some human company for a change," he offered. They took his offer and sat around and in front of him, Natsu and Happy at his right front and Flare and Blaze at his left front.

"So, Oyaji (Old man), how come you look like a tree or something?" the pinkette asked straight to the point. Clearly, tact was something he was acquainted with.

With a chuckle, Warrod answered, "This, young man, is the result of an unfortunate accident that I had with my magic."

"So, you're a mage?" Blaze asked, though it seemed more like a statement. He, like the rest, could feel the magic power inside the tree-like man.

"Yes, I am. Here," he said as he made to show his magic by making a white rose grew from his right hand. While everyone else was in awe to his trick, Warrod leaned forward and placed the white rose over Flare's right ear. Said female got a shy blush on her face due to this, as no one had ever done something so nice to her.

"There, much better now, right?" he rhetorically asked, though, Flare nodded her head in thanks nonetheless.

"Wow, what kind of magic was that?" Natsu asked amazed.

"Aye! It's very pretty, though, it seems similar to Laki's Wood-Make Magic, don't you think so, Natsu?" the blue feline said, moving his head to look at his father figure as he asked his question.

"Yeah…" the pinkette agreed, though, with less cheer than usual as he was reminded of his ex-guild. He quickly shook his head to get rid of such sad thoughts. Warrod noticed the sadness that was on the brown eyes of the pinkette for those few seconds, but, decided to leave it alone in favour of explaining his magic.

"My type of magic is called Green Magic. Green Magic is a non-offensive Magic capable of manipulating nature itself, as well as allowing the user to create and/or rapidly accelerate the growth of plants; this can be done to rather minuscule plants on the ground, or on the user's own body. From time to time, I use this magic to slow down or halt desertification in certain locations that I designate as in danger of turning into a desert," Warrod explained.

"Really? How do you do that?" asked an curious and still a bit of shy Flare.

"By growing a forest of course," he answered with a smile directed at the redhead.

"You can create a whole forest!?" asked an amazed Natsu, much to Warrod's enjoyment.

"Yes, I can. Maybe I should take all with me next time I go do it," the green haired old man offered. "But, nevertheless, please, tell about yourselves. What could bring the four of you to these parts of Fiore?" he asked with a friendly smile.

"We live in a village near here. The Sun Village," started Happy, to which Natsu continued.

"Yeah, Happy and I heard about a village populated by Giants, so, we decided to check it out. We met Flare and Blaze here in this forest and they took us there. We've been living there since."

"I see. What about you, Flare-chan, Blaze-kun?" the old man asked.

"I've lived at Sun Village ever since I can remember. The Giants told me that they found me in the forest and took me in. I then found Blaze's egg when I was seven and he was born a week later," she explained, her blush no longer on her face.

"What about you, Warrod? What are you doing around here?" asked a curious Blaze, drawing a chuckle from the tree-like man.

"I live a mile or two from here and, since I like this place so much, I decided to come here to relax a bit. This place calms me and makes me quite happy too."

"Yeah, it's nice being here. The flowers are nice too," the pinkette commented before having to move a hand to his mouth to block a yawn from escaping.

"It seems that someone is quite tired, no?" Warrod chuckled.

"Yeah, I've been training hard while living at the village. I want to become strong enough, so that I can find my father, Igneel. That, and because I want to make sure that I can protect my friends at all times," Natsu explained with a determined look in his eyes.

' _He has your determination, Mavis…'_ thought Warrod as he looked on at the pinkette, before making a suggestion, "How about I help you then? I happen to have some books that could help you on your quest. Plus, as they say, with age comes experience and that's something that I do not lack, even if this old body can't move as it once did."

"You're serious? Of course I accept!" the pinkette accepted with a grin, before thinking of something, "Wait, could you help train Flare too? She'll be coming with me too, plus, I don't want her to be left out," he explained.

Warrod looked at the redhead, who was surprised that Natsu would want to include her in training that was only offered to him. But, nonetheless, she looked at Warrod with hoping eyes. He was the only other human that she knew and, maybe, he could help her understanding human society and culture, since, while Natsu tried, he wasn't that knowledged about those topics, having been raised away from humanity too.

At her hoping look, Warrod only smiled, "Of course, I have nothing against Flare-chan joining," the old man then chuckled at the blush that his way of addressing the redhead caused.

"Yosh! I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaimed with a exchited grin.

* * *

 **And I'm going to stop it there. Really, I'm not that happy about this chapter, since the word count for this chapter is lower than my 5k words limit that impose on myself. Any chapter that I write I try to make it 5k words long at least! But, I just couldn't think of anything else to show! Plus, I really want to go on with the plot.**

 **Anyway, here is this week's challenge!**

 **From what place did I base the appearance of Ironhigh's smith shop?**

 **Hint: The anime from where said place is from has a title composed of three different words.**

 **Oh, and from now on you can only answer my challenges through PM. I will not count any answer given to me in a review.**

 **Good luck, don't forget to fav me and leave a review! See you all next tuesday!**


	3. Dead Man's Hand

**Hello, people! TM11 here back with more Dragon Heart for ya! Wow, you guys some strange taste, but, it's not like I care. Anyway, I'm a little disappointed that nobody tried to answer my last challenge. Yes, two Guests were right that the anime that I was talking about was Sword Art Online. But, that is not the right answer. That is the clue for the answer. The right answer was Lisbeth's Smith Shop from Sword Art Online. That's where I based Ironhigh's smith shop from.**

 **Anyway, here is chapter 3 for all of ya!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. I wish I did, I would be rich if I did, but, since I ain't rich, it is clear that I don't own it. Though, I do own my own arcs, plot twists and the OCs shown in this story.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

' _Master'_ – Thoughts

" **Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

' _ **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 3 – Dead Man's Hand**

* * *

 **10:10, August 1st, X784, Fairy Tail Guild Building, Magnolia, Fiore**

A blonde girl sighed as she cleaned a cup behind the bar of Fiore's number one guild, Fairy Tail. She was wearing a green, sleeveless top, brown shorts and brown, heeled sandals. She also wore a white apron, which had the Fairy Tail guild symbol on it, around her waist and had her hair styled in two pig tails. She was Fairy Tail's newest member and former Team Natsu member, Lucy Heartfilia. Though, the guild only knew her as Lucy.

Lucy looked up as she heard someone going through a table, which was a normal occurrence here in Fairy Tail. The guild members were once again having and guild wide brawl between each other, something that the blonde mage had become accustomed to since joining three months ago.

Watching the brawl brought back memories of a pink haired mage that would most likely be on the center of said brawl, should he be here. Lucy remembered how Natsu had saved her from being kidnapped by Bora, back at Hargeon, and from being turned into a slave. She had been a rich girl that had ran away from her uncaring father and still new to the mage business, along with having to support for herself. Natsu's help had been very much appreciated and she was very glad to have met him.

Then, that mission had happened; the mission to Galuna Island. She had not been sure about going on a S-Class job; Natsu was strong, but, she was not that good in a fight. However, the reward of a Gold Celestial Spirit Key had been too much for her to refuse.

In the end, the mission had went well; even though Gray and Erza had tagged along. They had helped the people – or should she say, the demons – of Galuna Island and she had got her golden key; though, they had not got the reward money.

However, Master Makarov had not taken well to Natsu and Happy stealing a S-Class job when said dragon slayer knew of the dangers that could be on such a quest. So, with a heavy heart, he had banished Natsu – Happy choosing to go along with his father – on May 18th of X784. That had been two, almost three, months ago.

Fairy Tail had not been the same during the week after the banishment. No brawls had happened during that time; but, soon the members of the most destructive guild in Fiore started to go back into things. Though, not with as much energy or joy as before.

Lucy had started working as a barmaid alongside Mira; her punishment for going along with Natsu and Happy on the S-Class job. By the end of her punishment, she had taken a liking to the job and decided to stay on it. The payment was enough to pay her rent and necessities; plus, she didn't have to endanger her life while doing it. She did go out on a job once or twice, along with Erza and Gray, to not get out of shape.

Speaking of Erza and Gray, they had decided to team up and take jobs together. Their team, Team Ice Blade, was very successful; when it came to finishing the job's objective. However, they were also Fairy Tail's most destructive team; not on the level of Team Natsu, but, close enough. It seemed that, even without Natsu in the team, those two still could cause more than enough destruction to compensate for the dragon slayer's absence.

The blonde was brought back from her thoughts by her colleague's voice, "It's not the same without him, isn't it?" Mira asked with a sad tone, so different from her usual bright and happy one, as she came to the blonde's side with a empty tray on her hands.

Knowing whom she was referring to, Lucy said, "Yeah, it's as if the guild lost a bit of its shine. They may still fight, but, it is as if they don't take as much joy in it as they did before."

The platinum haired teen nodded in agreement, "Yes, Natsu made the brawls fun around here. Without him, Fairy Tail is not the same." She then turned her attention to the guild's master as he came to their side for a refill of his beer mug.

"Have you had any news about Natsu and Happy, Master?" Mira asked as she refulled the orange wearing wizard saint's mug. The master only shook his head at his guild's poster child.

"I'm afraid not, my dear. The last thing I heard about them was of Natsu helping taking down some trees for a reconstruction company and of him helping clear a mountain road that had been blocked by some boulders, due to rockslide," Makarov informed.

Lucy gave a small laugh at hearing what Natsu did, "Those seem like the jobs that Natsu would have no trouble with. Destruction is his forte after all." Mira and Makarov shared a small laugh alongside the blonde. Indeed, jobs that involved destruction would be too easy for the fiery dragon slayer.

Letting out a sigh, Mira said to Lucy, "We better get back to work, Lucy. We can only hope for the best for those two, now."

"Yes, you're right, Mira," the blonde nodded at her colleague and the two got back to work on serving the guild members.

Makarov could only drink his beer as he thought, _'Natsu, Happy, wherever you two are, I hope you are doing well for yourselves.'_

* * *

 **08:30, August 4th, X784, Dandelion's Train Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

"Ah, remind me to thank Warrod-ossan again for those motion sickness pills, will ya Happy?" asked a young man as he got out of the train. He had a slightly tan skin tone, spiky, pink hair and black eyes. He was wearing a sleeveless, gold trimmed, dark-gray waistcoat, which was closed by a golden buckle at the chest level, and had a black shirt whose sleeves went to mid forearm. He wore a gold trimmed, dark-gray cloth around his waist that reached his mid tight, which was held by a leather brown belt, a small pouch attached to it on the right side of the hip. His legs were covered by black, knee-length trousers and he had black, open-toed sandals on his feet. To complete his outfit, he had a thick, black wristband on his left wrist and a scale-patterned scarf around his neck.

"Aye! Don't worry, Natsu, I'll remember. If I don't, Flare will most likely," Happy answered back at his father figure, Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander.

"Warrod-sensei is a genius for making those pills out of plants," Flare commented. Like Natsu, she too had gone through a change of outfit. She now wore a dark-red top, with straps over her shoulders, that showed her mid-drift and black, skin-tight jeans tucked into black, high-heeled boots that went up to her knee. Over her top, she had a crimson jacket, whose sleeves ended at mid-forearm length. She also had two black bracelets, one on each wrist, and had her red hair styled into a waist-length braid.

"Yeah, good thing he gave you the recipite too, or we would be in trouble when the ones he gave us ran out," the pinkette said.

"Anyway, guys, we have a job to do, remember?" rhetorically asked Blaze, Flare's partner.

"Yeah, yeah; save the town from the dark guild that has taken it over," Natsu remembered. "Well, lets get to it then. We should start by trying to find a bar or a pub. According to Warrod-jiji, that's where one can find information easily," the others agreed with the dragon slayer's suggestion and started to walk into the town, looking around for a bar or pub.

Dandelion Town was small when compared to Magnolia, but, it was by no means less pretty. The town had a modern feel to it; though, it seemed as if there was a feeling of oppression in the air, which was expected, since the town was supposed to have been taken over by a dark guild.

While walking through the streets, Flare was getting very nervous. It was her first time seeing so many people of her own size and it was starting to overwhelm her. Even after everything Warrod-sensei and Natsu had taught her about the outside world, she was still very afraid of making a mistake.

Blaze, who was sitting on top of the redhead's right shoulder, noticed her troubled expression. Having spent his whole life with her, he knew that she was most likely nervous about seeing so many humans around her. "Don't worry, Flare, I'll protect you if anything bad happens," the yellow cat said, trying to reassure the female dragon slayer.

Natsu and Happy had also noticed their friend's nervousness and said, "Yeah, don't worry, Flare; you'll get used to the outside world pretty soon. Plus, you're a dragon slayer, and a tough one too; I can vouch for that. You got nothing to worry about."

The redhead smiled at her friends and nodded, "Thank you; I needed that." Natsu and the cats just smiled at her and then moved on to looking around and trying to find their objective.

After a few more minutes of looking around, Natsu noticed something strange, "Hey, have you guys noticed that most of the people walking around are women, children or old people."

"Aye, even the stores open are being managed by women," Happy agreed with the pinkette's finding. It was true, every store they passed in front of had a women or an elderly managing the store.

"From what I remember from Warrod-sensei's lessons, such a thing is not usual. Women managing clothe stores, market shops and such is normal; but, a women working on a smith shop?" Flare put in her own two cents.

Natsu suddenly stopped walking and looked at a building to their left, "Well, we can find the reason about that in there. I can smell the alcohol from here," he frowned. The smell reminded him of Cana, which made him miss his old guild. _'Maybe I should send them a letter or something? It has been almost three months since Happy and I left; they must be worried,'_ Natsu thought. Making a note to do that after freeing the town, he and the group walked to the building that reeked of beer and alcohol.

Going inside, they took a look around. There were tables laid out around the bar and a counter with stools in front of it, for clients to sit and drink, at the far left corner. Several shelves filled with glass bottles could be seen behind it. The place was empty, but, that was expected, since it still was early in the morning.

Behind the counter while cleaning a mug, was a women with light-brown skin, black hair that reached the end of her neck and blue eyes. She was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, with the last two buttons undone, showing some of her cleavage. She wore a black, knee-length skirt, with a black apron over it, black stockings and black heels.

"Welcome to the Dicey Café; my name is Anna. How may I help you?" the woman inquired as Natsu's group approached the counter and sat on the stools.

"Two cups of firewhiskey, please," Natsu ordered. The drink was nothing like real fire, but, it was good enough.

"Do you have fish?" Happy asked from his place on top of Natsu's head.

The woman rose an eyebrow at the talking cat, but answered anyway, "No, sorry; but, I do have some milk if you want?" she offered.

"We'll take the milk, ma'am," Blaze accepted the offer. The women moved through some of the shelves before coming back with their drinks.

"Here you go," Anna said as she placed two cups of firewhiskey and two cups of milk in front of them. "Anything else that I can give you?"

Natsu took a gulp from his cup, before saying, "Yes, you could give us some information. You see, the four of us here are mages and we heard that this town had been taken over by some dark guild. So, decided to come and help."

Anna tensed at the mention of the dark guild, before looking around and calming down a bit, "Don't talk about that too loudly. You never know who could be hearing or watching," she advised while leaning closer to them and whispering.

Natsu only gave her a small grin, "My magic gives me better senses than those of a normal human. I can't smell or hear anyone around us or the building; so, that means that we're alone here."

"Yeah, and Flare here is the same as him. If anyone comes even near this bar, they'll know right away," Blaze added as he patted Flare on the hand.

Anna looked at them, before letting out a sigh, "Ok, I'll take your word for it. What do you want to know?"

"Anything you can tell us about this dark guild would be helpful," the pinkette said.

"Well, from what I know, the dark mages that took over the town are a small group that belongs to the dark guild Death's Head Caucus. They call themselves Dead Man's Hand," she told them.

"Death's Head Caucus? That's the dark guild known for being unmatched in its number of successful assassinations," Happy informed the group as he took a sip from his milk, making Flare and Blaze widen their eyes in shock and Natsu narrow his in anger.

"Yes, the very same. They came here over three months ago and killed our mayor," the brunette continued with her story, "We had some mages living here, along with the Rune Knights stationed here, but, they weren't a match for the sheer numbers that Dead Man's Hand brought. Then there was the leader and his three lieutenants. From what I know, the leader uses **Magic Card** , while two of his lieutenants use a sword and **Hair Magic**."

' _ **Magic Card**_ _, uh?'_ another thing that made the pinkette remember Cana and Fairy Tail.

"Hey, we noticed that there were no men around the village. Why is that?" asked Blaze after finishing drinking his milk.

Anna let out another sigh, before answering, "Dead Man's Hand took all of the men away and made them work in the mines north of the town. Our town's mines are rich in gold and some other metals; that's why they took over. My brother Andrew was also taken," she said with a sad face.

"I see; that's very useful information. Thank you for telling us this," Natsu thanked Anna before finishing his firewhiskey and getting up from his stool. The others followed his lead and made to leave the bar. The pinkette, however, had one last thing to say before leaving, "Don't worry, we will save your brother and the town. You can count on it," he then gave her a grin and walked out of the building, the others giving Anna a smile before following after him.

Walking through streets, Natsu whispered to his group, "We should go rent a room in a inn and then take a walk around the town. There should be a Rune Knights' Station somewhere here; Happy, you will check it out while transformed," Happy nodded at his partner.

"Blaze, I want you to go to the mines and take a look around while transformed too. Memorize everything and anything you can," Blaze also gave a nod of understanding to the pinkette. Natsu then looked at his fellow dragon slayer and said.

"Flare, you and I will be taking a look around the town and see where members of this Dead Man's Hand like to get together. With luck, we will also be able to go to the mayor's hall and take a look inside to see what we find out," Flare nodded, her face a mask of determination, while, inside, she was trying to calm down her nerves.

* * *

 **14:15, August 4th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

The Rune Knights' Station was a white, three store building, with a pair of Windows, one each side of the building's front wall, for each floor. The entrance had an archway over it, supported by five pilars organized in a semi-circle; two doors of hard steel closing the entrance. Getting in through the front door would be very stupid, for the building had members of Dead Man's Hand all over its perimeter. One would be immediatly spotted had be forced to fight their way through a horde of dark mages.

Thus why, crawling through the vents of the Rune Knights' Station, was none other than Happy while using Transformation Magic to change his form to that of a white mouse.

Happy, along with the rest of the group, had learned Transformation Magic from Warrod; though, only Blaze and him were good enough to reach the Advanced Level of said magic, while Natsu and Flare were only good enough to reach the Intermediate Level.

The Basic Level allows a Caster to change his or her outward appearance into that of another person. However, it doesn't allow the Caster to change clothes. The Intermediate Level though, does allow for the change of clothes and voice. While the Advanced Level allows the Caster to change the size of the transformation and even acquire physical features, such as feathers and guills.

Anyway, Happy had decided to go with the form of a mouse because of how small the form is, allowing the him to walk around unnoticed.

Falling down through a descending vent, Happy got out of the vent system and into what seemed to be a small kitchen. There was a countertop to the right and a big table to left, with a couple of chairs for people to seat while eating on the table. A fridge could be seen to the left of the countertop; Happy quickly shook away thoughts of eating fish and focused on his objective. As much as he liked fish, Natsu was counting on him and that was more important now. Plus, the pinkette would certainly give him many fishes if he did a good job.

With that in mind, Happy made it out of the kitchen, into the hallway and turned right. As he made his way through the hall, always leaning against one of the walls on either side, he came to a crossroads. Before he could decide where to go, he heard people coming from the right. Stopping right where he stood, leaning against the wall on the right side as much as he could, Happy watched as they passed through.

"I don't get why we couldn't just kill those puny knights. It's not like they are that useful; they aren't even working on the mines with the rest of the men in this town," ranted one of the men, the one with black hair and beard.

"We need them to send the false reports to their HQ. If they didn't, we would have a troop of Rune Knights on our doorstep pretty quickly," explained the other men. This one had brown hair styled into a ponytail that reached his back.

"So what? It's not like Rune Knights could do anything against us, much less the Boss and his team, the Aces and Eights," raven haired man bragged.

"Yes, but, they would be a nuisance to our plans. Plus, they could call for the help of some guild, or, in a worst case scenario, a Wizard Saint. Not even the Boss and his team could go against one and you know that," the brunette said as he and his partner turned to the left, making their way to the kitchen.

"Ok, but, then why aren't at least some of them working on the mines?" the other asked.

"Because the Boss doesn't want them to get any ideas of escaping; and, we have more than enough men to work on the mines right now," his partner explained.

As the two dark mages made their way to the kitchen to get a bite, they never noticed a white mouse make his way back to where they came from.

* * *

 **14:45, August 4th, X784, Dandelion's Mines, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Behind Dandelion Town, there was a valley that stretched out for miles. The valley was an almost circular formation, its walls filled with caves dug by either men or nature. A rail system could be seen going through the whole valley, connecting the entrances of each mine to the other. **(A/N: Imagine the mines in the Mask of Zoro)**

Working on inside these mines were hundreds of men, their ages varying from fourteen to fifty. They dug and carried bars of gold and other metals, all the while wearing worn out clothes and chains on their ankles. Looking over them were men and women wearing black clothes with the symbol of Dead Man's Hand. **(A/N: Aces and Eights' logo from TNA Wrestling)**

Blaze watched all of this from his point view above all of them in the sky, in the form of a hawk.

' _The valley has only one route in and out. That will complicate things a bit,'_ the cat-turned-hawk thought in his head as he flew over the road that led into the valley. _'There are guards on every entrance. Elevators and platforms all around the walls of the valley to help with dislocation from one mine to the other.'_

He flew a few more times around the valley, trying to commit everything to memory, _'The rails link some of the mines to each other. Since some of them go inside the mines, it's safe to say that some of those tunnels could be connected too.'_

Blaze flew over a few more times before making his way back to the town and to the inn where the group had rented a room.

* * *

 **16:03, August 4th, X784, Room 22, Jackson's Inn, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

"I see; so, they got the Rune Knights incarcerated in their own station's cells?" Natsu asked, getting a nod from Happy, who had just told him what he had found at the Rune Knights' Station.

The group stood now inside their rented room. It was a normal room with two beds on the right wall from where you entered through the door; the headboards leaning against the wall. Two closets on the wall across from the beds, a window on the wall in front of the door and another one between the tables; a bedside table right below it, with a lampstand on top of it. Natsu and Flare sat on their beds, their cat partners next to them.

"Aye! I also noticed that there is at least two guards always keeping an eye on them," the cat added, receiving a nod from the pinkette; who then turned his attention to the other talking cat in the room.

"What about you Blaze? What did you found out?" he inquired. Blaze nodded, before reporting everything he had seen and memorized about the valley where the mines were located and those stationed there.

"Ok, that's very good info; good work, Blaze. You too, Happy," Natsu praised them.

"What about you, Flare? What did you and Natsu found?" asked the yellow cat.

Flare looked at her partner and said, "We didn't find much; the mayor's hall has too many guards to infiltrate unnoticed. We could have knocked out a couple of them, take their appearance and go inside, but, neither of us is that good at acting, nor can we hold a transformation for long; unlike you two," she admitted as she pointed at him and Happy, making both of them smile in pride. Not only were the cats more advanced with Transformation Magic, they were also able to hold said transformations for longer periods of time than their human partners could.

"So, what's the plan, Natsu?" Blaze asked as he turned his attention to the other dragon slayer, along with Flare and Happy.

Had Natsu been like he was two months ago, no one would ever ask such a question to him. Now, however, he was a different person; Atlas and Warrod's training made sure of that, along with teaching him how to use his head.

"Ok, this is what we're going to do…"

* * *

 **07:00, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

On the basement under the station, were located the cells holding the twenty Rune Knights stationed on Dandelion Town. They had been there for three months now, given three meals a day, that they had to share between them all, and only one of them was allowed to leave, only when they had to give a report to their superiors on the other branches.

"For how longer will we stay here, jailed like common criminals?" one of them asked. He was a short yet solidly built man with sienna, spiky (cactus-styled) hair, a small sienna goatee and brown eyes. He was wearing a light-brown, long sleeved shirt and dark-brown pants tucked into dark-brown boots.

"I don't know, Kibaou; but, we cannot lose hope. The people outside are counting on us and we can't disappoint them," another said, trying to cheer his comrade up. He had blue hair with long bangs and blue eyes. His outfit was the same as Kibaou's, the only differance was that his was in blue instead of brown, and he had black boots instead of dark-brown ones.

"Get real, Diavel, the last ones that tried to escape were executed in front of the whole town at the town square. We would only be marching to our deaths," Kibaou spatted.

"Better than die here, laying about as nothing but a waste of a man," Diavel argued.

"Why you-" whatever the spiky haired man was going to say, it was cut off as they heard a loud explosion above them. The explosion was strong enough to even shake the whole building.

"What was that?" one of the guards keeping guard of them said from where they sat near a table on the far left side of the basement.

"Don't know; let's go check it out," the other suggested.

"What about them?" the first guard asked while pointing at the cell holding the Rune Knights. His colleague only let out a mocking laugh in response.

"Leave them be; it's not like they're going anywhere," with that said, both of them climbed the stairs on the right side of the basement and went out through the door at the end of said stairs.

"What do you think is happening?" one of the knights asked, the others already murmuring between each other and giving their own opinion on the matter.

"I don't know, but, with any luck, it could be our way out of this place," Diavel said, hope clear on his voice.

"Yeah right! Like anyone would be stupid enough to-" once again, Kibaou was cut off by an explosion. This one, however, was much closer to their location than the previous one. Suddenly, the two guards that had just walked out to see the commotion above them were sent flying through the door that led to the their cell below it. A figure landed next to them, letting the knights take in on their appearance.

They were male, the body structure told them so. He had spiky, blue hair, a tanned skin and black eyes. He wore a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat, open and untucked, exposing his bare chest; a gold trimmed, black cloth around his waist that reaches his knees, held by a leather brown belt with an oval-shaped silver buckle and white knee-length trousers. That's what was normal about the guy, though; for he also had blue cat ears, a blue tail and blue furred and hands and feet, each finger with very sharp claws.

"What the hell are you!?" asked a confused and shocked Kibaou. The creature looked them and smiled, before answering.

"I'm Happy, the one who's going to release you," he said as he spinned the key ring on his right index finger.

After being freed, Diavel thanked the strange creature, "We thank you for freeing us, Happy-san."

Happy only grinned at them in response, "No problem, though, you should go get your weapons quickly. Natsu is strong, but, a little bit of help with those pieces of trash above would be good."

"Natsu? Who's he? And what do you mean he could use a bit of help?" asked Kibaou, a question after the other.

"There isn't enough time to explain everything. You just need to know that my friends and I are going to free the town. One of them, Natsu, is above us providing a distraction for me to free you and for you to get your weapons, so that you guys can help us take Dead Man's Hand down," he resumed, before jumping over the stairs and to the door. "Come on!" he yelled before running down the hall.

Diavel looked at the knights around him and said, "What are you waiting for, men? You heard him! Let's go fight for the freedom of our town!" the men cheered at that, before making their way out of the basement.

* * *

 **07:00, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Moments earlier, Natsu and Happy stood in front of the station, a grin on both of their faces; the guards guarding the station's entrance having already been knocked out silently.

"Ready, Happy?" asked the pinkette to his son, receiving a nod in exchange.

"Aye! I'm all fired up!" declared the blue cat, stealing his father's catch phrase.

Letting out a chuckle at the theft of his catch phrase, Natsu lighted up his right fist in red and orange flames, before jumping forward and yelling out the name of his spell.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** **"** the doors of the station didn't stand a chance and were blown off of their hinges as the fist connected with them, hitting the walls of the room behind them and causing a cloud of smoke and dust to lift up, not to mention downing some of the men that were on the entrance hall at the time.

The racket originated by Natsu's entrance made the members of Dead Man's Hand inside the building come to investigate. All of them were in for a shock as they came face to face with a grinning Fire Dragon Slayer.

"I'm the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel!" he yelled out to his enemies and, if possible, his grin only got bigger as he thought of the fight that was coming to his way.

"AND I'M ALL FIRED UP!"

* * *

 **Well, that's all for now. Now, as you can see, this arc of mine has been somewhat influenced by SAO. And that's the clue for this chapter's challenge.**

 **Who is Andrew?**

 **Ok, before I go, I have to tell you that the next chapter will be coming in two weeks, instead of next week. Why? Because I like to be two chapters ahead of you guys and I doubt that I can make chapter 6 in a week.**

 **That being said, see ya in April 19th!**


	4. Eight of Clubs

**Revised on 03/11/2017**

* * *

 **Hello, people! TM11 here with a new chapter for Dragon Heart!**

 **Well, I must say that I'm disappointed. No one reviews, no one tries to answer my challenges... :(**

 **Are you guys even reading this? I know you are since I'm gaining more followers everyday, but, why don't you review? Don't be shy! Give me you most honest opinion on my chapters! How am I to know if I'm doing good or bad if no one tells me?**

 **Anyway, the answer to last chapter's challenge was... Agil! Agil's real name is Andrew and he's Anna's brother in this fic.**

 **Anyway, I won't keep you from reading the chapter anymore. Good reading.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, its characters nor its arcs. I only own my OCs, my OOCs, the plot of this fic and my original arcs.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

' _Master'_ – Thoughts

" **Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

' _ **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 4 – Eight of Clubs**

* * *

 **07:00, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Moments earlier, Natsu and Happy stood in front of the station, a grin on both of their faces.

"Ready, Happy?" asked the pinkette to his son, receiving a nod in exchange.

"Aye! I'm all fired up!" declared the blue cat, stealing his father's catch phrase.

Letting out a chuckle at the theft of his catch phrase, Natsu lighted up his right fist in red and orange flames, before jumping forward and yelling out the name of his spell.

 **" Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"** the doors of the station didn't stand a chance and were blown off of their hinges as the fist connected with them, hitting the walls of the room behind them and causing a cloud of smoke and dust to lift up, not to mention downing some of the men that were on the entrance hall at the time.

The racket originated by Natsu's entrance made the members of Death Man's Hand inside the building come to investigate. All of them were in for a shock as they came face to face with a grinning Fire Dragon Slayer.

"I'm the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel!" he yelled out to his enemies and, if possible, his grin only got bigger as he thought of the fight that was coming to his way.

"AND I'M ALL FIRED UP!" that being said, Natsu ignited his fists and jumped forward towards a group of dark mages that had come in when they heard his entrance.

 **"** **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** the dragon slayer yelled out as he punched one of the men in the face and into a wall. Natsu then swung his arms to the sides, hitting another two dark mages and sending them flying away, **"** **Fire Dragon's Wing Attack** **!"**

"Stop him!" one of them said from his position at the other side of the entrance hall; another five dark mages with him, blocking the way to the hall that led further into the station.

Natsu dashed forward at them, sidestepping the blasts of light magic that they fired at him with ease. **"** **Fire Dragon's Wing Attack** **!"** grabbing two of them, Natsu ignited his hands, before spinning in place and sending his enemies flying, making them crash against their comrades and blow them away too.

"Let's go, Happy!" Natsu yelled out at his partner, who had been watching him takeout the dark mages from his point of view above of them.

"Aye, sir!" the blue cat cheered, before making his way to his partner's side. Once there, he chanted, **"** **Transformation** **…"** Happy then began to glow, his form changing until it stopped in a humanoid form, the light dying soon after. Now, standing in front of Natsu, was a copy of himself, the differences being the blue hair, cat ears, white-tipped tail, hands and feet, and the fact that his copy was wearing his old outfit, minus Igneel's scarf. **"** **Neko-Natsu** **!"** Happy called out once his transformation was complete.

Natsu gave Happy a grin and a nod, "Looking good, Happy; but, we gotta get going, if we want to free this town anytime soon." Happy nodded, before the two made their way further into the station.

* * *

 **07:10, August 5th, X784, Dandelion's Mines, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Roar** **!"** Flare called out as she breathed a stream of hellfire at the six dark mages that had charged at her, sending them flying backwards with second and third degree burns on their bodies.

It had been five minutes since she and Blaze had come to free the men working on the mines. The plan was simple; take out the guards, steal the keys that unlocked the chains of the workers, free them, and then apprehend all of the dark mages stationed on the mines. After that, they would regroup with Natsu and Happy, who had went to free the Rune Knights, and then storm the mayor's hall.

Flare was nervous and scared that she wouldn't be strong enough to do her part; but, with Blaze by her side, and Natsu and Happy's confidence in her, she clamped down on her fear and fought.

 **"** **Dark Rondo** **!"** one of her enemies calling out his spell earned them Flare's attention. A green blast of Dark Magic was fired at her, but, the redhead kept her cool as she went for a spell of her own.

 **" Purgatory Dragon's Twin Fang** **!"** Flare moved her ignited arms forward, in the shape of a cross, forming a very large amount of hellfire in two massive waves shaped like fangs, which moved forward and clashed with the blast of Dark Magic. Flare's hellfire proved to be stronger, as it went straight through the blast of Dark Magic and hit the dark mage, burning and knocking them out.

Another dark mage, a huge man with claymore, came at her next from her left, swinging his massive sword in an arc while trying to cleave the redhead in half. Flare easily ducked under the slash, before igniting her fist and calling out, **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** Hitting the man in his unprotected mid-section, Flare sent him skidding a few feet backwards. She quickly dashed at him, punching and kicking with fits and kicks covered in hellfire, trying to keep the man on the defensive.

The big man blocked most of her punches and kicks with his forearms or claymore, before trying to once again cleave Flare in half with his strong swings. Flare was too fast for him, however; and, after he had overextended a swing, the redhead quickly got in his personal space and gave him an flaming uppercut in the jaw, knocking him out.

Before Flare could move to find another opponent, though, she found herself binded by glowing, white chains. Following the chains, she saw that they were coming from the hands of a man with white hair and black clothes.

"Hahaha! I got you know, bitch!" the man cheered. His victory was short lived, however, as he was then knocked out by a fist to the back of his head. The chains binding Flare disappeared and she took a look at the one that helped her.

He was a massive and bulky bald man with a light-brown skin tone, brown goatee and brown eyes. He also had two silver earrings on his left ear and was wearing only worn out pants and boots; his muscular upper body naked for the whole world to see.

Flare quickly brought down the small blush that came to her cheeks from seeing his naked torso, before thanking the man, "Thank you for the help." The man gave her a smile and shook his head, before saying.

"I should be the one thanking you. If it wasn't for you and your friend, we wouldn't be fighting for our freedom right now. Oh, the name's Andrew, by the way," Andrew introduced himself.

"Oh, so you're Anna's brother?" she stated more than asked. Before he could answer, though, they heard someone call out a spell from Flare's right.

 **" Bubble Shot** **!"** a dark mage summoned a stream of big bubbles from their urn, which they then sent at Flare and Andrew. Flare quickly got in front of Andrew and prepared to send out a Roar at the water spell. She had not need to, however, as someone got in front of her and called out a spell of their own.

 **" Crimson Fist** **!"** the mage ignited their fist into crimson flames and then launched it as a column of fire at the incoming water bubbles. The crimson flames proved to be stronger as they completely evaporated the water bubbles and hit the dark mage before they had time to dodge, burning them severally and knocking them out.

The one to use the fire spell than turned his attention to Flare and Andrew. He looked like he was on his young, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old, had blonde hair that went down to the base of his neck and red eyes. He sported a long-sleeved, high-collared white blouse with maroon edges and maroon, puffy hakama-styled pants that went just below his knees. Than came the non-human parts of his appearance; such as yellow cat ears with red fur on the inside, a red-tipped, yellow cat tail coming out from his backside and a pair of yellow, furry hands and feet, with sharp claws on the end of the fingers.

"Pay attention, guys! You can talk later; right now we have some dark mages to beat up," the young man chastised. Flare gave him a nod.

"Will do, Blaze," happy with the answer, Blaze, now in his Nekomata form, jumped away to beat some more dark mages.

"We'll talk later then; once this is all said and done," Andrew said to Flare, before running off to help his friends beating some dark mages. Just because they didn't had magic, it didn't mean that they couldn't fight. Plus, most of these dark mages were weak physically; a few punches and kicks being enough to knock them out.

Before Flare could take a step forward to go look for a group of dark mages to fight, her senses screamed at her and she jump to side, barely avoiding being pierced by golden needles, _very sharp_ golden needles.

"Impressive; you managed to dodge my fastest attack without even looking at it. Those are some good reflexes you have there," Flare turned around to where the voice came from and saw her new opponent.

She had long, flowing, blonde hair that went down to her waist, red eyes and fair skin. Her wardrobe was rather scantily-clad, and fit tightly on her tall and slender form. The attire consisted of a black trimmed, dark-blue gi and disconnected arm warmers that reached down to her light-blue spandex shorts. She also wore a pair of black, low-heeled boots.

"You'll need more than good reflexes to beat me, though, little girl," the blonde taunted with a sly smile on her face. Flare could feel the magic power flowing off of the blonde and knew straight away that this new enemy would be much harder to beat than the other dark mages she had previously knocked out.

"Who are you?" the redhead asked to the blonde as she took a fighting stance. Her opponent's smile never left her beautiful face as she answered.

"I'm Stella, the Eight of Clubs of Dead Man's Hand. Though, when I'm done with you, you'll be calling me Master," the woman introduced herself and taunted Flare at the same time.

"That will never happen!" Flare declared while giving Stella a glare, before dashing at the blonde; who only gave the approaching redhead a sadistic smirk.

 **" Purgatory Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** Flare ignited her right fist in hellfire, before punching at Stella's face.

The blonde didn't make a move and instead just uttered, **" Hair Shower: Golden Wall** **!"** Flare's eyes widened as Stella's blonde hair grew and got in front of the dark mage, forming a wall of yellow hair.

Flare's flaming fist impacted the wall and it held strong, not even making a dent on it. Flare also noted that the wall of blonde hair seemed to have a metallic shine to it.

Behind the wall made of her own hair, Stella called out, **"** **Hair Shower: Golden Fist** **!"** A fist made of blonde hair came forward from the wall of blonde hair, hitting Flare in the stomach. The redhead's breath was taken from her due to the unexpected attack and she skidded backwards, ten meters away from the blonde.

 _'That hair packs quite a punch,'_ the dragon slayer mused internally has she caught her breath and nursed her bruised stomach.

The wall and fist of hair retracted back, revealing the blonde mage of Dead Man's Hand, smiling smugly at Flare with her arms crossed under her bust, "Ready to give up?"

"Never!" Flare breathed in some air, before breathing out a stream of hellfire at the blonde, **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Roar** **!"** The flames covered the distance between the dragon slayer and the blonde quickly and were upon Stella in seconds. The blonde, however, never lost her smug smile or moved an inch from where she stood. Instead, she intoned, **"** **Hair Shower: Golden Wall!** **"**

Once again, Stella's hair grew and positioned itself in front of her; just in time to take on Flare's hell-flames. Stella's hair didn't budge, but, it did got much, much hotter; which the blonde quickly took notice of.

 _'Her fire can overheat my golden hair!?'_ the dark mage raged in her head, her smile turned into a scowl of masked fury, as she was forced cut loose of the hair that formed her Golden Wall, least she want all of her hair to overheat and melt.

Flare stopped her Roar as she saw her opponent jump to side. She looked on as the wall of blonde hair burned and melted, while keeping an eye on the holder of said hair. Both watched until the Stella's Golden Hair was nothing more than a puddle of melted gold.

 _'Gold?'_ the smell of melted gold filled the redhead's nostrils and she looked at her opponent, whose glare would've make the old Flare, the one before she met Natsu and Happy, recede into herself in fear. "So, your magic allows you to turn your hair into gold," Flare stated.

"Good for you to have found that out. It won't make a difference when I squash you like the bug you are," Stella scoffed. No one messed with her precious hair and lived to tell the tale! She would make sure that the redheaded harlot in front of her would be no different. **"** **Hair Shower: Golden Fists** **!"** Stella's hair grew and turned into multiple fists, before she send them all at Flare.

Flare did her best to avoid all of them; sidestepping to one side, cartwheeling to the other, jumping over or ducking under them, even clashing with some of the fists while using her Purgatory Dragon's Iron Fist. She was doing a good, even though she had took some hits from the fists of blonde hair. She didn't, however, expect two fists to come out from under her and grab her ankles. Her surprise cost her as she was thrown through the air and crashed into a pile of golden bars, _very hard_ golden bars.

"Ah!" Flare let out a yell of pain as her head hit the pile of gold bars, making her dizzy.

Stella didn't let up, though, and pulled the redhead back; intending to slam her viciously into the ground. Her plan was ruined, however, as she was hit on her right side by what felt like a train, losing the grip that her hair had on Flare as she was sent flying.

 **"** **Crimson Charge** **!"** Blaze called out as he charged at the blonde woman holding his older sister figure in the air; his white wings sprouting out of his back and his whole form encased in crimson flames, making him look like a human sized fireball as he shoulder tackled Stella. The blonde woman was sent rolling through the ground, but, the cat-turned-boy didn't care as he flew up and catched Flare before she could hit the ground.

"You ok, Flare?" the blonde nekomata asked, worried, while holding the redhead bridal style in mid-air. Flare shook her head to clear off her dizziness, before responding, "Yes, I'm ok, Blaze."

The six dark mages that had been watching the battle between their superior and the dragon slayer – and had decided to not involve themselves in the fight in fear of Stella's wrath, since she was known to kill anyone on sight after someone said anything degrading or did something to her hair – decided that now was the best moment to join the fight. However…

 **"** **Storm Bringer** **!"**

 **" Prominence Typhoon** **!"**

…They were all fire and wind mages.

Both Flare and Blaze grinned as they watched three tornados combine into one, enormous hurricane of cutting wind, which was then combined with the three typhoons of purple flames, creating an gigantic hurricane of purple fire.

"Time for a snack," was all Flare said before Blaze let her go and fall in the direction of the flaming cyclone. As soon as Flare was inside the storm of purple fire, she started sucking all of it in. The originators of the Unison Raid were left wide eyed and with their jaws hitting the floor as they saw the redhead eating their strongest spell.

A few seconds later, Flare landed softly on the ground and wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand, before giving a thankful smile to the dark mages in front of her, "Thanks for the meal. Here's your payment." She then inhaled a bit of air, before breathing a wide stream of hellfire at the dark mages, **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Roar** **!"** The dark mages were still shocked at seeing their best attack being eaten and, thus, didn't move an inch as the crimson flames of hell hit them, burning them severely and knocking them unconscious.

"That was awesome, Flare!" Blaze cheered as he landed at her right. "Though, are you alright? That fire tornado did have some wind in it after all", he asked with slight worry. Flare coughed a bit, but, gave him a smile as she answered.

"I'm ok; those purple flames ate most of the wind of the tornado. I only ingested a little bit. Nothing that I can't take."

"That's good," both citizens of Sun Village visibly startled at hearing that voice and their eyes widened, "Because that means I can still punish you for mistreating my gorgeous hair! **Hair Shower: Golden Lion Maw** **!"**

It was thanks to Flare and Blaze's heightened senses that they were both able to jump back just in time to avoid being bitten by the fangs of a golden lion made of blonde hair. Both mages looked beyond it and saw Stella's bruised figure standing a few yards away from them. Her red eyes were narrowed, her mouth was forming a scowl and her hands were balled into fists at her sides; her knuckles white due to the pressure. Hatred could be felt radiating from her whole body.

"I'll squash you like a bug, you harlot! **Hair Shower: Golden Needles** **!"** Stella's blonde hair hardened into gold, before she fired thin, golden needles of golden hair at her opponents. The golden needles were too fast for Flare and Blaze to bring up a defense or dodge them all; but, they still managed to move so that they missed vital spots. Both mages quickly covered their bodies in flames, overheating the needles on their bodies and melting them.

"We can't let her hit us with another barrage of those. We barely managed to move so that they would miss any vitals," Blaze breathed out, slightly out of breath because of the pain he was feeling due to being used as an human pincushion. Flare nodded from his left.

"Cover me from up in the air as I try to get closer to her. She can't move too much while attacking with her hair because of its weight. Plus, she's more injured than us due to your last attack. Her body must not be accustomed to pain since she clearly prefers to fight at mid to long range and only uses her hair to fight."

Blaze gave her a nod, "Right, you can count on me, Flare!" he declared with determination, before jumping to skies above, ready to provide cover for his partner.

"I know I can," Flare murmured under her breath and dashed forward at Stella as fast as she could. The blonde woman only scowled at her.

"I'll screw you to death, harlot! **Hair Shower: Golden Needles** **!"** Stella fired hundreds of golden needles at the approaching redhead. Mid way to their target, though, the needles were intercepted as Blaze descended from above, his body engulfed in crimson flames, **"** **Crimson Pillar** **!"** Blaze shot the collected flames downwards, creating a pillar of crimson flames that melted the golden needles on contact. Flare, however, passed through it without receiving any damage – because of her dragon scales – and continued to run at Stella.

"Don't get any closer! **Hair Shower: Golden Fists** **!"** the blonde roared in anger and slight fear as she sent golden fists made of her blonde hair to stop the dragon slayer from getting any closer.

 **" Purgatory Dragon's Claw** **!"** Flare ignited her feet and used the fire on her feet as jets to fly at her opponent while maneuvering out of the way of the blonde's golden fists. **"** **Purgatory Dragon's** **!"** The redhead called out when she was ten meters away from Stella, who was, by now, wide eyed and afraid. Flare covered her whole body in hellfire, before she started spinning, turning herself into a tornado of crimson flames, **"** **Fire Spin** **!"**

 **" Hair Shower: Golden Dome** **!"** Stella yelled desperately. Her blonde hair grew and surrounded its master in a dome of golden hair. Flare collided with with the golden dome, denting it, but, not moving it an inch from its position.

"HHHAAAA!" Flare increased the power of her hell-flames, making the fire tornado she had turned herself into grow bigger. From inside the dome, Stella could only panic as the air started to get hotter, _'She's overheating my hair! NO! IT'LL WILL MELT COMPLETELY AT THIS RATE! MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!'_

On the outside, Flare's fire spin had grown into an inferno of hellfire, melting all of Stella's golden hair and burning her severely; her screams being obfuscated by the roar of the flames from hell.

When the fire storm died down, Flare was on her knees, gasping for air. A few feet in front of her, was Stella, badly burned. Her clothes were burned beyond repair, barely able to cover her breasts and sex, and without a single hair on her body. Though, she was alive, just knocked out and would probably not wake up anytime soon.

"Are you alright, Flare!?" Blaze asked worried as he landed next to her.

Flare took in some breaths of air, before nodding, "Y-yes, I'm ok; it was just my first time using so much magical energy in one go." She raised her head to look at her knocked out and burned opponent, "She must have reinforced her hair with magical energy at the end; that's why I had to use more on that **Fire Spin**." Just then, a few explosions were heard around them.

"We need to go back to fighting," Flare declared, "The workers here may have the numeric advantage, but, they're still fighting mages with only weapons and their fists." She got her breath back and got up to her feet. Blaze looked at her, still worried, but, nodded at her decision.

"Well, let's get going then; but, I'm not letting you out of my sight," Blaze decided. Flare gave him a smile and nodded, before both of them jumped back into the fighting.

* * *

 **07:20, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 **" Fire Dragon's Claw** **!"** Natsu called out as he got into a handstand and spun around, the flames on his feet turning into a small fire tornado that blew the ten dark mages, that had tried to gang up on the dragon slayer, away.

Natsu stopped spinning, got back to his feet and looked around him. The fighting had moved from inside the station to the courtyard behind it, where the Rune Knights trained.

Speaking of Rune Knights, they had shown up a few minutes ago, along with Happy and joined the fight. Although they did not use magic, they did have magical weapons; such as their Reflector Shield, a magical shield that could reflect most normal and weak spells.

 **" Tornado Shot** **!"** one the dark mages of Dead Man's Hand yelled from behind Natsu as he fired two wind bullets from two guns simultaneously, which merged together to form a tornado directed at the pinkette.

 **"** **Blast Shot** **!"** another three dark mages said as they fired multiple bullets composed of blue-colored flames.

Natsu rolled to his right, avoiding the shots. As he got up, he inhaled some air, before firing four fireballs the size of his head at his opponents.

 **" Fire Dragon's Gun Fire** **!"** the pinkette called out as the dark mages were hit, burned and knocked out by the fireballs. Natsu then heard something coming at him from his left and took a step backwards, just in time to avoid a downward slash at his head. Before he could fight back, though, he heard the air moving behind him and ducked, avoiding another slash at his head. Natsu then rolled backwards and did a backflip to get some distance from his new opponents, before taking a look at them.

"Damn, we missed!" the one on the left yelled out. He seemed to be in his mid twenties and had short, orange hair with two bangs framing his brown eyes. He was wearing a long-sleeved, red shirt, brown pants and black boots. He was also wielding a long sword on his right hand.

"Calm down, Derek; we won't miss again," the one on the right promised to his twin, for there was no other explanation for them to look identical to each other. Though, the calmer one had longer hair and a long-sleeved, blue shirt. Like his twin, he was also wielding a long sword, but, on his left hand instead.

"Damn right we won't, Eric," Derek declared. Natsu let out a chuckle, which did not went unnoticed by the more hot-headed twin. "What's so funny, Pinky!?" he yelled out, thinking that Natsu was laughing at him.

"Oh, nothing; just the fact that you think you two can beat me," Natsu taunted, making Eric narrow his eyes in a glare and Derek's blood boil.

"You think you can keep up with our **High Speed** , punk!? I would like to see you try!" the short-tempered twin yelled back in outrage.

"Calm down, Derek! He's just taunting us to make us lose our cool," the more focused twin tried to calm down his younger brother.

"Please, you call that **High Speed**? I know someone much faster than you two put together! Compared to him, you guys are snails!" the dragon slayer mocked further as he let out a laugh. This was all it took to make Derek explode in anger.

"That's it! You're dead, you son of a bitch!" he raged as he dashed forward at Natsu, against the protests of his twin, using his magic to move at his top speed and slashing at Natsu with an ascending diagonal slash. Natsu, however, sidestepped the slash to right with ease. Not to be denied, though, Derek accelerated even more and came back at him once more, slashing horizontally at the pinkette's neck. This proved to be of no use, for Natsu, once again, dodged the slash with ease by ducking under it.

This continued on for some time; Derek dashing at the dragon slayer at his top speed and trying to cut him, only for Natsu to dodge every single one of his slashes with ease. Eric eventually decided to join in and help his twin, but, that proved to be of no help as Natsu kept avoiding or dodging their attempts at drawing blood from him.

"I'm getting bored, so," Natsu stated with a bored tone, before he ignited his hands and grabbed the blades of the twins' long swords, shocking them.

"What!? How did you do that!?" yelled Derek as he tried to pry out his sword from Natsu's strong grip; his twin trying to the same, neither getting any results.

"My fire can do more than just burn trash like you two, you know?" the pinkette bragged with a cocky smirk, before he broke the twins' swords by closing his hands. Derek and Eric were shocked even further at that, but, didn't get to voice their thoughts as Natsu punched them in the gut and then elbowed them on the back of their necks as they doubled over. The twins fell on the ground, knocked out at either side of pinkette.

"Bravo, bravo!" Natsu heard someone cheer sarcastically from his right and looked on to see a man approaching him. "You managed to beat some mongrels that are not even worthy of kissing my shoes; good for you, trash," the man mocked while Natsu took a look at him.

The man had pale blonde hair spiked up at the back and with bangs on the right side of his face. His eyes were bright blue and he wore a pair of glasses, which were black with green arms. As accessories, he wore a pair of earrings. His tie was checkered and he wore a fitted black suit, as well as white shoes. At his waist, attached to a black belt, was an one-handed rapier with a white blade, a blue handle and a circular hand guard with blue gem embedded in it. The man had an arrogant aura coming from him, something that his smug smirk transmitted quite well.

"Who the heck are you?" Natsu eloquently asked. The blonde's smirk got bigger at the pinkette's inquiry.

"I'm Adrian Black, Dead Man's Hand's Eight of Spades," Adrian introduced himself. "You should be honored to be in my presence, you know. In fact, you should be kneeling in front of me and begging for mercy," the swordsman advised arrogantly.

Natsu shot him a cocky smirk of his own, "Sorry, but, I don't kneel or bow to anybody; much less a piece of shit of a dark mage like you, pretty boy."

Adrian's smug smirk turned into a sneer, "Hmph! Well, I must teach you how to respect your betters then," he then pulled out three silver keys from the right inner pocket of his suit, surprising Natsu.

 _'Are those Celestial Spirit Gate Keys!? He has the same magic as Lucy?'_ the pinkette thought in surprise. It was his first time seeing another Celestial Spirit Mage besides Lucy.

Taking Natsu's surprise as fear, Adrian smirked arrogantly as he called out, "Allow me to show you the power my Celestial Spirits! **Open** **!** **Gate of the Indian, Persia** **!** **Gate of the Wolf, Lupus** **! And** **Gate of the Furnace, Fornax** **!"**

Light covered both mages and the area surrounding them, making Natsu rase his arms to cover his face as the three Celestial Spirits summoned by Adrian made the jump from the Celestial Spirit World to Earth Land. Once the light faded away, Natsu took a look at his three new enemies.

One of them was crouched down on all fours. It had a wolf head, long arms and legs, which were bent at the knees, with clawed hands and feet. It also had bluish-grey fur, with some patches of dark-blue fur, and a bluish-grey, dark-blue tipped tail. The wolf was wearing a leather strapped chest armor, with yellow spikes on the bottom and the straps, a pair of spiked shoulder and knee guards, spiked vambraces and spiked armbands. Its amber eyes were glaring at Natsu hungrily and predatorily.

The other spirit looked like a oven-like suit of armor. It wore two straps, a belt, two wristbands on both arms, and two knee braces on both legs.

The last spirit looked a lot more like a human than its two companions. It looked like a male with tanned skin, all of his body filled with tribal tattoos, and dressed only from waist down in buckskin pants and a pair of moccasins. He wore no shirt, but had a necklace made of white feathers and a feathered war bonnet on top of his head. He also sported tribal war painting on his face and seemed to be in his mid-thirties. His physique was build for speed, further proved by the wooden spear being held on his right hand.

Adrian's smugness could now be felt sprouting out of his body, "Well, four-on-one seems to quite unfair to you, mongrel. So…" he trailed on as he looked around the courtyard, until his gaze locked on the Rune Knights, who were finishing knocking out most of the cannon fodder stationed at their station, and Happy, who was still on his Neko-Natsu form and beating some of the cannon fodder too.

"Lupus, go hunt the doppelgänger of this mongrel here," he ordered the wolf as he pointed at Happy. The spirit let out a snarl, before dashing on all fours towards the Natsu look-alike. "Fornax, go play with those puny Rune Knights," the walking furnace gave a nod, understanding the order given by its master, and slowly walked towards its opponents.

Adrian then locked gazes with Natsu once more, "Well, then, two-on-one. I'm sure that someone as strong as you seem to be would appreciate the challenge, no?" The pale blonde taunted sarcastically with an arrogant smirk, as he drew out his rapier and took his stance. At his right, Persia took on a stance of his own, ready to pounce on Natsu at any moment and pierce him with his spear

To the dark mage's taunting, Natsu only smirked with excitment as he punched his left palm with his right fist, "Bring as many allies as you want, pretty boy. It won't matter, 'cause I'm all fired up!"

* * *

 **Well, what do you think? Did you like it? Did you dislike it? Tell me your thoughts, please! I need to know!**

 **Also, for you to better imagine the characters that debuted in this chapter: Stella was based on Fuka, from Naruto Shippuden; Blaze's clothes while in his Nekomata form are Tenten's in Naruto Shippuden; Adrian Black looks like Virus from Dramatical Murders; Lupus looks like the Titan Fenris from Huntik; and Fornax looks like NRG from the Ben 10 franchise. Unfortunatly, I've got nothing for Persia, as I couldn't find anyone that looked like what I wanted for him.**

 **I think that's all. There won't be any more challenges from now on, since no one seems to want to answer them.**

 **The next chapter will come out in two weeks, on May 3rd.**

 **Se ya soon!**

 **P.S: This chapter was revised. I changed Adrian's Celestial Spirits from the ones that I had given him previously and corrected some typos.**


	5. Eight of Spades

**Revised on 03/11/2017**

* * *

 **Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Tuesday Night Fairy Time! I'm your host, TM11, and I'm here to bring to you Chapter 5 of Dragon Heart.**

 **Now, in case some of you might have forgotten, here is the list of my OC cast in this chapter:**

 **Adrian Black - Virus from Dramatical Murders**

 **Lupus - Fenrir from Huntik**

 **Fornax - NRG from Ben 10**

 **Well, that's that. I won't keep you from reading the chapter anymore. Have a good reading and don't forget to review and favourite.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters. I do own the plot of this story, meaning the changes that I'm doing and will be doing to Canon. I also own my OCs, my OOCS and any original arc that I can come up with.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

 _'Master'_ – Thoughts

 **"Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

 _ **'** **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 5 – Eight of Spades**

* * *

 **07:30, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Adrian's smugness could now be felt sprouting out of his body, "Well, four-on-one seems to quite unfair to you, mongrel. So…" he trailed on as he looked around the courtyard, until his gaze locked on the Rune Knights, who were finishing knocking out most of the cannon fodder stationed at their station, and Happy, who was still on his Neko-Natsu form and beating some of the cannon fodder too.

"Lupus, go hunt the doppelgänger of this mongrel here," he ordered the wolf as he pointed at Happy. The spirit let out a snarl, before dashing on all fours towards the Natsu look-alike. "Fornax, go play with those puny Rune Knights," the walking furnace gave a nod, understanding the order given by its master, and slowly walked towards its opponents.

Adrian then locked gazes with Natsu once more, "Well, then, two-on-one. I'm sure that someone as strong as you seem to be would appreciate the challenge, no?" the pale blonde taunted sarcastically with an arrogant smirk, as he drew out his rapier and took his stance. At his right, Persia took on a stance of his own, ready to pounce on Natsu at any moment and pierce him with his spear

To the dark mage's taunting, Natsu only smirked with excitement as he punched his left palm with his right fist, "Bring as many allies as you want, pretty boy. It won't matter, 'cause I'm all fired up!" Natsu ignited his feet and then charged forward at his opponents.

 **" Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** Natsu ignited his fist and pulled it back, ready to punch the smugness from Adrian's face. That was not to be, though, as Persia blocked the punch ment for his master with the pole of his spear. **"You'll have to get through me first, to get to my master,"** He then swung the spear, sending Natsu skidding backwards.

As soon as Natsu stopped skidding, Persia was already in front of him, ready to stab him through the heart. The pinkette sidestepped the thrust to his left and ducked to dodge the bottom of the spear when Persia tried to hit him with it. The Celestial Spirit of the Indian then pivoted on his right foot and sent a backspin left kick at Natsu's temple. The dragon slayer took a step back and tilted his head backwards to avoid the kick.

 **" Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** The pinkette tried to take advantage his opponent's position by punching him in the gut. Persia, however, proved to be a great fighter and spearman as he blocked the punch with the pole of his spear once again. Undeterred, Natsu went for backspin sweep kick, but, the indian spirit just jumped over it. That, however, was what the dragon slayer wanted.

 **" Fire Dragon's Roar** **!"** Persia screamed in pain as he was engulfed by the torrent of hot flames and sent flying backwards, severely burned.

Natsu grinned as he saw how badly Persia was burned by his Roar, even when the pinkette held back half of his power. His instincts then screamed at him and he rolled to the right, just in time to avoid being stabbed through the back of his head.

His surprise attack having failed, Adrian sneered at the dragon slayer, "Hmph, you sure are lucky, mongrel," his sneer then turned to a smirk, "But, your luck will end today!" he exclaimed as he dashed forward at the pinkette.

Natsu easily avoided the pale blonde's various jabs; really, for someone who had fought against Erza Scarlet, a master in the art of swordsmanship, this guy was very easy to read.

"This is not luck, trash," the pinkette replied as he ducked under another stab and grabbed the blonde's wrist. "It's skill! **Fire Dragon's Claw** **!"** , Natsu then kicked the man in the stomach with a burning kick. Adrian gasped at the pain he felt; one of his ribs must have been cracked if not broken by that kick. He was sure he would have been sent flying if it wasn't Natsu's grip on his right wrist.

Before Natsu could do anything else, he was forced to let go of Adrian and jump to the right, least he be pierced by a soaring spear. Adrian fell to his knees as Persia came to his side.

 **"Are you alright, Master?"** The spirit asked as he grabbed the pole of his spear and lifted it from where it pierced the ground when Natsu dodged it. He then took a stance in front the blonde; ready to protect his master.

"Do I look alright!? Where were you!? Your job is to protect me!" Adrian yelled at the indian, feeling humiliated by being forced to his knees so easily.

 **"My apologies, Master,"** the spirit apologized, ashamed that he let his master down.

Watching their interactions, Natsu had the feeling that Adrian did not look at his spirits as friends, unlike Lucy. That made the dragon slayer angry, because, to him, every ally was a friend; that's what he believed in. He also believed that some enemies could later become friends, after they see the wrong of their ways.

"Don't apologize to that piece of shit, Persia!" Natsu yelled, shocking the indian and his master. "He doesn't deserve to be the master of a skilled warrior like you. He should treat you as friend, not as a bodyguard or a slave!"

"Shut your trap, mongrel! How I treat my weapons has nothing to do with you!" Adrian shouted in rage. He then looked at his spirit and ordered, "What are you doing there? Attack him! Kill him!"

 **"As you wish, Master,"** Persia answered, his cold tone betraying the pain at being called a weapon by his master, who he had been loyal for years. He shook that away from his mind and dashed forward, his spear positioned to pierce Natsu through the heart.

Natsu dodged the jab, along with the following ones, as he talked with Persia, "Why do you follow him? He is not worthy of your loyalty!"

The indian did not stop his assault as he replied, **"My loyalty is to whoever has my key. It does not matter who it is or how they treat me; as a Celestial Spirit, it is my duty to call my key holder Master or Mistress."**

"Tch, then I guess I'll have to find you a new master," Natsu replied, shocking Persia. He had just met the dragon slayer – as an enemy even – and the pinkette already wanted to help him? The indian could not understand it.

"But first," Natsu took advantage of the indian's surprise and ducked under a thrust, before igniting his fist and punching the spearman in the gut. The punch was strong enough to make Persia lose his breath and send him skidding fifteen meters backwards.

"I'll have to beat your ass! Then, I'll beat pretty boy's ass!" He declared as he pointed at Adrian, who had gotten back to his feet and was waiting for the best opportunity to strike. The blonde sneered at the pinkette's declaration. "And once my friends and I are done freeing Dandelion, I'll be sending you to a friend of mine, who is also a Celestial Spirit Mage."

"Hmph, you'll never be able to beat me, mongrel! And, even if by some miracle you do beat me, Master Alhambra will have your life! You can't beat him, not in a thousand years!" The blonde mocked Natsu as he bragged about the strength of the guild master of Dead Man's Hand.

"We will see about that!" The dragon slayer's fists and forearms then started to glow, **"** **Requip: Fire Dragon's Gauntlets** **!"** Natsu called out. The glow faded away, leaving a pair of silver-colored gauntlets. The gauntlets reached up to mid forearm and had orange lines going from the tips of its clawed fingers, which were very sharp, to the end of the gauntlets. Natsu then ignited his fists and the orange lines started shining a dark orange glow.

"I hope you're ready, Persia; for now I'm gonna come at ya with my whole power!" The dragon slayer stated with a battle hungry grin.

Persia mimicked the pinkette's grin and replied as he positioned himself in a dashing stance, **"Come at me, Natsu Dragneel!"**

* * *

 **07:15, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 **" Stone Rising Spikes** **!"** A female dark mage called out as she slammed her hands on the ground, making stone spikes rise from the ground beneath Happy.

 **"** **Aera** **!"** Angel like wings sprout from the transformed Happy's back, allowing him to rise into the air and avoid being skewered by the stone spikes.

 **" Sand Slash** **!"** Another three dark mages yelled as they sent crescent-shaped blasts of sand at Happy with great force.

 **" Storm Shred** **!"** Another two female dark mages shouted as they created several blades of wind and sent them at the flying Neko-Natsu form of the blue cat.

Happy dodged the Wind and Sandstorm spells with great agility, showing how great his flight ability was. **"** **Crimson Barrage** **!"** Covering his hands in crimson flames, the bluenette sent a barrage of fireballs the size of his head raining down on his enemies.

 **" Sand Wall** **!"** Called out the Sandstorm users as they brought up walls of sand to protect them from the fireballs, while the Wind Magic users used their magic to fly and avoid them; the lone Earth Magic user not being fast enough to do anything before being hit by three fireballs, which burned and knocked her out.

 **" Storm Shred** **!"** The two female Wind Magic users called out once more as they sent several wind blades at the flying Happy.

Happy ignited his right fist, before cocking it back, **"** **Crimson Fist** **!"** he called out as he punched forward and sent a column of crimson fire at the females; their wind blades being eaten by the crimson flames. The females cried out in pain as they were burned and crashed into the ground, knocked out.

 **" Sand Runespoor** **!"** One of the Sandstorm users created a three-headed snake and sent it at the flying bluenette. Happy evaded the snake's heads easily, however, he wasn't expecting one of the other two Sandstorm users to come out from the sand runespoor's middle head's neck, which he was flying over.

 **" Sand Knuckles** **!"** The dark mage uppercutted Happy in the jaw, sending him flying backwards. The snake heads from both sides took advantage of the dazed bluenette and came down on him, slamming him down into the ground hard and holding him there. The Natsu look-a-like then looked up and saw the last Sandstorm user coming down at him with a halberd in his hands.

"You're dead now, bastard! **Sand Halberd** **!"** The descending dark mage laughed as he brought his sand halberd down to skew through Happy's head. As he came down on the bluenette, though, Happy smirked, before disappearing in a cloud of pink smoke; the sand halberd piercing nothing but earth.

"What!? Where is he!?" The dark mage cried out in rage as he looked around. He then heard a scream from above him and looked up, only to see his comrade, the one that had punched Happy, being consumed in crimson flames, before falling down to the ground knocked out and severaly burned. The dark mage then heard a poof to his left and looked there, only to receive a superman punch that knocked him out.

Happy smirked as he looked down at his knocked out opponent and thought, _'Transformation Magic is so cool!'_ The blunette was brought back to earth as he heard the sand runespoor lunge at thim. He avoided the beast's heads by doing backflips, cartwheels and spins in mid-air, all thanks to his feline agility.

Getting tired of being the mouse in this game of cat and mouse, Happy made some distance between him and the sand runespoor. "Take this, you snake bastard! My own version of one of Natsu's strongest spells!" Happy ignited his fists, before swiping his arms in a circular fashion, creating a powerful, and highly destructive, torrent of crimson flames.

 **"** **Exploding Crimson Flame Blade** **!"** Happy called out as he sent the torrent of crimson flames at the sand runespoor. The beast of sand stood no chanse as the flames ate it whole, heating the sand to the point that it started to turn into glass. After the flames dispersed, the only thing left was the glass statue of a runespoor, which Happy broke with one punch.

 **" Sand Coffin** **!"** The blunette heard someone say, before he was captured in a cocoon of sand, his face being the only part of his body not covered. Happy then watched on as a tendril of sand rose from the ground and it turned into the last Sandstorm user, who was smirking victoriously at the blunette.

"Hahaha! Any last words before I crush you, trash?" the dark mage asked with a mocking tone. Despite his present predicament, Happy gave the dark mage a smirk.

"Aye! **Transformation** **!"** Happy, once again, disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke, shocking the Sandstorm mage.

"What!? But, how!?" Another cloud of smoke came up in front of the man, who was then punched in the nose, and knocked out, by a blue furred fist that came out of the pink cloud; which then dispersed and revealed Happy in his Neko-Natsu form.

"Yep, Transformation Magic is awesome!" Happy cheered with a laugh. His laugh costed him as he was then hit from the left by a blue blur and sent crashing into one of the walls surrounding the courtyard.

"Ugh, that hurt…" whimpered the bluenette as he got out from the wall and looked at who or what hit him. In front of him was what seemed to be a wolf with grayish-blue fur, a few patches of dark-blue fur all over its body, and wearing armor with yellow spikes sprouting out of it. The wolf was eyeing him like a piece of meat, which Happy didn't like at all.

Had it been the Happy of three months ago standing there, he would have flown away as fast as he could. Now though, after three months of training with Natsu, Happy had developed the same thing that his foster father had.

A thirst for battle.

"Well then, mutt; you think you can cheap shot me? I'll show you that I'm no ordinary cat! I'm Happy Dragneel! The son of Natsu Dragneel and the grandchild of Igneel!" The blunette then ignited his blue furred fists and smirked at the wolf with excitement. "And I'm all fired up!

* * *

 **07:40, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

"I hope you're ready, Persia; for now I'm gonna come at ya with my whole power!" The dragon slayer stated with a battle hungry grin.

Persia mimicked the pinkette's grin and replied as he positioned himself in a dashing stance, **"Come at me, Natsu Dragneel!"**

"With pleasure!" Natsu replied, before charging forward and calling out his spell, **"** **Fire-Make: Fire Dragon's Claws** **!"** The fire that covered Natsu's gauntles took the shape of claws and, once close to the indian, the dragon slayer took a swipe at Persia's head with his right hand.

The spearman moved his head to his left, avoiding the swipe, and then jabbed forward with his wooden spear. Natsu used the force of his swipe to spin around to the right, avoiding the jab, and then followed the move with a backspin kick with his left leg.

Persia took a step back to avoid the kick and then, using his spear's longer range, he swung it like a long sword in an horizontal slash. Natsu dropped to the ground on his back, avoiding the slash, and rolled away.

As the pinkette got up, Persia was upon him already and he had to dodge a barrage of thrusts, though he blocked some of them with his Fire Dragon's Claws. As the spearman brought back his spear, instead of going for a jab, he kicked out with his left leg at Natsu's solar plexus, sending the dragon slayer flying back.

The pinkette planted his feet on the ground, skidding backwards until he stopped twenty meters away from Persia. Before he could even think of a counter attack, he heard the wind moving from his left and took a step back, avoiding a jab from Adrian.

Even when surprised by the speed of the swordsman, Natsu was still able to jump backwards in order to dodge the follow up slash from the dark mage. However, the male of the Black Family was not finished there as he turned the rapier ninety degrees to his right with is wrist and the blade shot forward at rapid speeds, intent on skewering the dragon slayer.

Not expecting such a trick, Natsu only had time to lean his body to his right; making it so that the blade only pierced his left side and missed any vital organs. The pinkette grunted as he felt the rapier stab him and then retract, leaving quite the bleeding wound.

Not caring about the pain, Natsu swung his right arm at Adrian, the fire claw covering his gauntleted hand stretching forward and advancing on its target. Persia, however, got in the way and cutted the fire claw with his wooden spear.

Adrian walked forward from behind his spirit to his left side, before saying, "I told you that this was a two-on-one, didn't I? You, who dared to put your hands on me and, more importantly, dared to go against Dead Man's Hand, will die by my blade!" he declared.

Natsu chuckled as he reformed the fire claw on his right gauntlet and used it to close the wound on his left side. "And I already told you; bring two, three, ten or fifty. Bring as many allies as you can, trash, 'cause it won't matter! In the end, it's gonna be me standing tall with my foot on top of your unconscious ass!" The pinkette declares himself.

"Your arrogance will be your death!" Adrian sneered as he dashed at Natsu, Persia by his side.

"Says the pot to the kettle!" The dragon slayer shot back at the pale blonde as he too dashed at his opponents.

* * *

 **07:40, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

"Well then, mutt; you think you can cheap shot me? I'll show you that I'm no ordinary cat! I'm Happy Dragneel! The son of Natsu Dragneel and the grandchild of Igneel!" The blunette then ignited his blue furred fists and smirked at the wolf with excitment. "And I'm all fired up!

Lupus snarled in response to the declaration and shot forward at his prey. Happy too dashed forward and the two met in the middle. Lupus tried to claw at the bluenette's head, but Happy ducked under the claw and punched the wolf in the gut.

 **" Crimson Fist** **!"** A column of crimson fire shot out from Happy's flaming fist, sending the wolf backwards. However, the beast planted his hind legs on the ground, stopping himself, and, as the flames dispersed, Happy could see that his fur was only slightly burned, meaning the wolf had some high durability.

Lupus dashed forward once more, faster than before. Happy was still able to dodge his claw swipes, although with some difficulty.

As the beast clawed at him once more, Happy ducked under it and rolled to the beast's left. He then got to his feet and punched the wolf on his left side. Lupus let out a small whine, before spinning around and trying to hit the blunette with his tail.

Happy leant back to avoid the tail and ducked under the backhand that followed afterwards. He didn't, however, managed to move quickly enough to avoid the fist that came right after the backhand and sent him rolling backwards through the ground.

 _'Damn, he hits almost as hard as Natsu,'_ the cat complined inside his head. As he got up to his feet, he saw the wolf coming at him once more. Igniting his hands, Happy brought them together and called out, **"** **Crimson Barrage** **!"**

The cat started firing multiple fireballs at the incoming beast. Lupus, though, showed how great his speed and reflexes were as he sidestepped the fireballs left and right, not once breaking his run.

His attack proving useless to stop his opponent, Happy brought out his wings and flew up, barely avoiding Lupus' claw.

"What are you going to do now, mutt?" The cat taunted. The wolf, however, surprised him once more by baring his teeth at him, before hunching over on all fours and letting out a loud and piercing howl. The howl flew at the winged Neko-Natsu Form of Happy like a beam and hit him before the cat could move aside.

Happy screamed in pain and tried to cover his ears as the howl hit him. As a being with an enhanced sense of hearing, a sound attack was much more painful to him; even more so when the attack was concentrated on him like Lupus' howl was.

Losing his concentration because of the pain that his eardrums were being subjected to, Happy's transformation ceased and, along with his wings, disappeared. Now in his cat form, Happy fell from the sky and hit the ground with a thud, blood flowing down from inside his ears.

Lupus stalked to his downed prey, slowly, knowing that the prey would become more desperate when trapted. A desperate prey is a dangerous prey; that he knew very well.

Happy, for his part, was in pain. His eardrums were bleeding, his sight was black around the edges and distorted, his whole body hurt from falling from such a height and he was having a killer headache right now.

None of that mattered, however. He knew that he needed to get up and finish his opponent before he became someone's breakfast. So, remembering what Warrod had said to him when teaching him and Blaze Transformation Magic, Happy concentrated as much as he could and used the type of magic that he was starting to love more than Aera.

Lupus stopped his stalking a few meters away and in front of his prey as Happy was covered in a big cloud of pink smoke. Once the smoke cleared, the wolf eyed his prey's new form.

The form was that of a muscular lion-man with blue fur, white mane, white fur on its legs and on the tip of its tail. Black eyes, black nose and mouth, five fingers on its hands and feet, black claws and black ear tips. Its ears were on top of its head. It wore a silver earring on its left ear, a collar with with a blue gem in the middle and multiple red teeth around it, black pants with white cords forming multiple "X" on its side and a black belt with a square metallic buckle on its waist.

Looking at his enemy in the eyes, Happy talked to him with a more deep and stronger voice than before, "An amazing thing, Transformation Magic is. For those that reach the Advance Level of this magic, physical changes, like changing one's size or growing another limb, become possible. Likewise, transforming to a form that has no wounds and fight like so while your original body is wounded becomes possible too," the lion-man explained.

Lupus animalistic insticts, along with his eyes, were telling him that the animal in front of him was dangerous. The wolf could sense no fear, no hesitation as the lion-man talked. He could only hear power coming from his prey's voice.

Happy then took a battle stance. Feet separated from each other, right foot back, left foot in front and to the left, knees slightly bent, right fist closed and beside his waist and finally his left fist in front of his torso. Happy's harden eyes never once left the wolf as he took his battle stance and, once finish, he once again referred to his opponent.

"This form that I'm using right now is called Beast King Form." Happy's eyes then narrowed, "Let me show you why it is called as such." With his piece said, the lion-man dashed forward at his enemy.

Lupus' eyes widened at the boost of speed that his prey gained; the lion-man crossing the distance between them in an instant. The wolf's shock was broken by a fist to the muzzle, followed by a punch to the gut, a knee to the jaw and finally a left hook to the sternum.

 **" Beast King's Fury Rush** **!"** Happy called out as he punched Lupus in the sternum and sent the wolf flying backwards, rolling through the ground.

Lupus planted his claws into the ground, skidding to a stop and then growled at his prey. Those hits had hurt. It seemed speed was not the only characteristic boosted by this new form of his prey. Inhaling a deep breath and thinking that the same attack would work against his prey once more, the wolf let out a beam like howl at the lion-man.

Happy smirked as the sound attack got closer to him, "Fool me once, shame on you…" before he jumped to the right, a good distance from the concentrated sound wave. "…Fool me twice, shame on me." Happy then ignited his right fist and cocked his fist back, before punching forward and calling out.

 **" Beast King's Crimson Fist** **!"** From his right fist, a column of crimson flames in the shape of a lion's head shot forward, its jaws open wide, wanting to consume its target in a blazing inferno.

Instead of moving and dodging just a fearsome attack, Lupus dashed forward at it fearlessly. As he got nearer, he jumped into the air and started spinning at a ferocious speed, becoming a drilling tornado of claws as he moved towards Happy's attack and drilled through it undeterred.

Lupus quickly got to Happy, but the lion-man was quick to roll out of the way of the drill-like attack. The wolf proved to be persistent and continued to pursue his prey, no matter how many times Happy moved out of the way or dodged his attack.

 _'This guy can use Sound Magic and Drill 'n Rock. If I'm hit by that drill attack, I'll be cut to pieces,'_ Happy analyzed as he looked at the drenches that Lupus' attack had created when he hit the ground. He quickly jumped to the left to avoid the spinning wolf once more. _'He must be using his sense of smell to keep track of me.'_

Sidestepping another attack, Happy voiced his irritation, "I'm getting tired of this!" That said, the lion-man took his previous stance and called out to Lupus, "My punch against your claws! LETS SEE WHICH IS STRONGER!"

The wolf's change of direction to his location for a front attack was the only indication that it had heard Happy's challenge and accepted it. In response, the lion-man ignited his right fist in crimson fire and waited for the right moment to strike. Just as Lupus got within striking range, Happy punched forward.

 **"** **Beast King's Crimson Fist** **!"** The two attacks clashed. Happy's blazing fist against Lupus drilling claws; both fighting for supremacy.

After what felt like an hour, but in reality was only five seconds, Happy's crimson flames overpowered Lupus' drilling attack and the beast was sent flying backwards; inside the maw of a lion's head made of crimson fire.

The wolf crashed against the walls that surrounded the courtyard, summoning a cloud of smoke and dust. After it all cleared out, Happy, breathing heavily from the strength he had to use to win the clash, could make out the burned figure of the knocked out wolf as it faded to golden particles, a sign that it had went back to the Celestial Spirit World.

"Hm, so he was a Celestial Spirit? I guess I should've seen that from the start," he commented to himself as he got his breath back. He then looked to his right as he heard the screams of the Rune Knights. From what he could see, they were fighting against some type of armored being that was firing columns of fire to burn its enemies.

"It must be another Celestial Spirit. Well, better go help them before that thing kills any of them," he then dashed forward towards his new opponent.

* * *

 **07:50, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Natsu sidestepped an attack from the bottom of Persia's spear and ducked under the jab of Adrian's Lambet Light, the dark mage's rapier – or at least the name that the blonde had called it. The dragon was then forced to roll to the right, least he want to have his head skewered by a wooden spear.

Doing some backflips to get some distance from his opponents, Natsu then breathen in, before firing multiple fireballs the size of his head at the Celestial Spirit and Celestial Spirit Mage.

 **" Fire Dragon's Gunfire** **!"**

 **"Get behind me, Master,"** Persia told Adrian as he got in front of the blonde and started spinning his spear, creating a shield that deflected any fireball that got close to them.

Adrian then stepped out from behind his spirit as he called out, **"** **Piercing Long Spear** **!"** The blade of his rapier then extended, fast as a bullet fired from a gun, as he jabbed forward.

Fortunately, Natsu was fast enough to lean his head and torso to his right, thus avoiding the jab. Persia was in front of him a second later, spear positioned to pierce the pinkette's gut. Natsu, however, jumped over it and used the indian's shoulders to jump higher.

 **" Fire-Make: Fire Dragon's Hammer** **!"** Natsu ignited his hands and then holded them together in a axe handle over his head. The flames took the form of a giant hammer and he then swung it down at Adrian.

The blonde paled, but was fast enough to jump to the side and dodge the burning hammer. The attack crashed to the ground, creating a crater and making smoke and dust rise up to the air in a cloud.

Despite the cloud of smoke filling his vision, the dragon slayer still had his sense of smell and hearing to tell him of any incoming danger; such as a certain indian spearman trying to pierce his heart from behind.

Natsu spun on his heel and then grabbed the spear by the shaft, surprising the Celestial Spirit, before pulling Persia to him and hitting the indian in the face with a flaming fist.

 **" Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** The punch was stronger this time, due to his Fire Dragon's Gauntlets, and thus sent the spearman flying backwards some yards away. Persia was almost knocked out, but his will was still strong enough to make him fight the confurtable hands of uncousciousness. He tried to get up, but he could only get to his knees; his previous wounds from Natsu's point blank Roar still hurting.

"Get up, you useless tool! Don't you dare lose to this weakling!" Adrian yelled in rage, not caring at all for his spirit's state of health.

The blonde's disregard for his comrade's wellbeing made Natsu's blood boil. So much so that he gave Adrian his more hateful glare, "Who are you calling useless, you piece of shit? Persia is fighting to protect you! Yet you still do not care for his wellbeing!" the pinkette spun Persia's wooden spear in his hands, which he had never let go since grabbing it. The flames around his gauntlets covered the whole spear, before he took a stance similar to Persia's and dashed forward, intent on skewering the blonde with it.

Adrian had no time to move, Natsu was already in front of him before he could even raise his rapier, spear positioned to pierce the dark mage through the stomach. But, someone got in front of him and took the blow for the blonde.

Natsu's eyes widened in shock and he gasped. In front of him was Persia, the spearman's own spear going through his gut. The spirit had shielded his master with his own body.

"Persia…"

* * *

 **And that shall be all for now, ladies and gentlemen.**

 **Now, before you go, I must explain something. Natsu's Fire Dragon's Gauntlets. They don't give him the ability to use Fire-Make Magic. No, what they do is increase his control over his flames, his Pyrokinesis. He just named those spells as Fire-Make to make others think that he knows Fire-Make Magic. The gauntlets also increase the power of his flames.**

 **If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them on a review or PM.**

 **The next chapter will be coming out in May 17th. See you all then.**

 **PS: This chapter has been revised. Due to the changes done to chapter 4, I had to slightly change the fights in this one. Just a bit.**


	6. Two Aces in the Hole

**Revised on 03/11/2017**

* * *

 **TM11: Hello, everyone! Welcome to Tuesday Night Fairy Time! (Thinks) Hm, maybe I should change that to Tuesday Night Fairy Tale? It makes more sense...**

 **Natsu: Hey, man! Focus!**

 **TM11: Oh, right, thanks Natsu. (Looks at the screen again) Anyway, welcome to another chapter of Dragon Heart. I don't want to keep you from reading my work, so let's get on with the show.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, its characters or locations. I do own my OCs and plot twists, thoug.**

 **Natsu: They make you say this every chapter?**

 **TM11: (Sighs) Yeah, quite taxing if you ask me. I know that I don't own you or your show. If I did, you would have a brain.**

 **Natsu: Yea- (Stops and glares at me) Hey! What does that mean!? Are you calling me stupid!?**

 **TM11: Yup! Though you only have Hiro Mashima to blame for that.**

 **Natsu: Tch! You're right about that.**

 **TM11: Anyway, let's get this show on the road!**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

' _Master'_ – Thoughts

" **Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

' _ **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 6 – Two Aces in the Hole**

* * *

 **07:55, August 5th, X784, Common Hall, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

The common hall of Dandelion Town was a simple two story building painted in blue. It was situated on top of a small mountain east of the town, with high walls going all around the building and only a single road leading to it.

Inside the town hall was the mayor's office. The office had its walls painted an emerald green and a black tiled floor. There were two couches on the center of the room, facing each other, and a small round table in the middle of them. A desk was facing the door, with a window behind it, a cabinet filled with files on the right side and a bookcase on the left.

Seating behind the desk and with his legs on top of it was a tall and thin man with green eyes, light silver hair, and a thin brown mustache. He was dressed in a brown suit, vest, and wide-brimmed fedora with a blue tie. He also wore white gloves and was smoking a cigar.

"So, we have a rebellion in our hands, uh, Sergei?" the man asked as he blew smoke from his mouth while looking at his partner, who was standing in front of the window on the right wall from the man's perspective.

His partner had short, black hair styled in a buzz cut, black mustache and goatee, brown eyes and had a more muscled figure than him. He wore a brown muscle shirt and brown skin tight pants, whose ends went inside black boots. Over his muscle shirt he wore an open vest with white fur around the collar and a design of two yellow, black slitted, feline eyes with black outline; one eye on each side of the vest. He also wore black shoulderpads, black, fingerless gloves and grey forearm protectors. Strapped to his right thigh was a knife pouch.

"Yes. It seems that the sheep have grown some backbone and believe themselves to be wolves," Sergei commented without looking away from the window.

"Hehehe, we will have to break that backbone then. Can't have my sheep hallucinating now, can I?" The green eyed man rhetorically asked, before blowing out another cloud of smoke. "Hm, acording to our boys, Stella has been taken out by a redhead and a blonde kid; and Adrian will follow soon enough since he's facing the Salamander."

"We have lost our hold on the mines and the Rune Knights' Station; and the rest of our pack has retreated back here." Sergei looked at the man behind the desk from the corner of his eye, "What are your orders, Alhambra?"

Alhambra gave his fellow Ace a sadistic smile.

* * *

 **07:55, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

The Rune Knights, the army under the Magic Council's control. Their job is to enforce the Council's ideals of justice and to investigate crimes related to the Magic world. They are also responsible for dealing with issues such as detaining criminals and passing judgement on to them.

But, just because they had such an important job and the political power needed to do it, it did not mean that they had the physical might needed to enforce it. For all of their power, Rune Knights were not that powerful; which is quite counterproductive in Diavel's opinion.

Sure, they could take out the weaker mages. Most of them focused too much on their magic and neglected their physical condition; but, thanks to the Reflector Shield, the Rune Knights could easily defeat them. And, for those that focused more on melee combat, the Rune Knights always had the numbers advantage and could swarm them until they got exhausted.

However, when it came to those that had a very high magical power, the Rune Knights were nothing more than cannon fodder. Thus why the Council sents job requests to the many guilds in Fiore to take those stronger folk down.

Then we have the Wizard Saints, the mages that the Council chooses to represent them in attempt to show their might and power. They were mostly sent in S-Class jobs that the Council needed done; missions too dangerous for those in the ranks of the Rune Knights.

Diavel knew all of this. He knew that he and his men were not that strong, not in a long shot. But, as long as they could do anything to help save their town, Diavel and his men would do it to the best of their ability.

Fighting against the minions of Dead Man's Hand was something that they could. These dark mages were not that more powerful than them; though, they did have the advantage in numbers.

Nonetheless, the Rune Knights fought ahead. Using Diavel's strategic wit and their Reflector Shields, they took down a good number of the weakest members of Dead Man's Hand.

However, no matter what strategy Diavel thought of, they could not beat Fornax, the Furnace Celestial Spirit that was under the control of one of Dead Man's Hand's lieutenants.

The spirit's hard armor made it very resistance to their weapons, not that they had many opportunities to get close to the walking furnace due to the spirit spewing fire at them from the slits on its helmet. Their Reflector Shields didn't help much, either. Sure, they could absorb Fornax's attacks, but again that armor protected the spirit even from his own fire. The only thing their shields were doing right was giving them some protection from the spirit's hard punches, but even that wasn't much.

Diavel planted his feet on the ground as he blocked another punch from the spirit's armored hand with his shield and skidded backwards a few meters.

"We should try to take advantage of its slow speed! These thing maybe strong, he's too slow due to that armor!" The blunette suggested to his troops.

"And how are we gonna do that, smart ass!? None of us are fast enough!" Complained Kibaou, who was blocked a column of fire shot at him with his shield. He didn't even tried to absorbi t, knowing it was useless to try and use the spirit's fire against itself.

Meanwhile, Fornax was gathering a huge amount of flames inside its helmet, the light of the flames shining through the slits on the helmet.

Before it could do shoot them, though, a voice called out from its left.

 **" Beast King's Crimson Fist** **!"** Someone called out as they punched the furnace in the face with a blazing fist. Fornax was sent flying backwards, trapped inside the maw of a lion's head made of crimson fire, and crashed against the wall around the courtyard.

 **"Gruhhhh!"** Groaned and moaned the furnace Celestial Spirit as it got back up, its helmet glowing due to the now heated metal.

The Rune Knights eyed their saviour in an awe; a humanoid lion-like being with blue fur and white maine that was wearing black pants.

"You guys alright?" The lion-man asked. Diavel got out of his stupor and answered their saviour.

"Yes, thank you for the help. But, may I ask who are you?"

"Heh heh, it's me! Happy! This form I'm using right now is my Beast King Form," Happy laughed. The furnace spirit made another sound as it got its wits back and prepared to unleash a fireball at its new target. "Talk to you guys in a bit!"

Happy shot forward at incredible speeds, avoiding the fireballs sent at him by Fornax. Once in striking distance from the spirit, the lion-man unleashed a fast combo of flaming punches, kicks, elbows and knees on his opponent.

 **" Beast King's Fury Rush** **!"** Happy called out as he finished his combo by punching Fornax in the gut, sending the furnace Celestial Spirit sliding more or less ten feet backwards.

Not relenting a bit, the lion-man took a stance; knees flexed body bent slightly forward and both fists by his sides at waist level. Igniting them in crimson flames, he called out.

 **" Beast King's Crimson Gatling** **!"** Happy then unleashed a barrage of Beast King's Crimson Fists on his opponent. Being too slow to react or dodge, Fornax took all of the punches with its armor. It, however, proved to have a limit and eventually, the consecutive hits made a number on the spirit's armor until it started to crack. Being unable to fight any longer, Fornax went back to the Celestial Spirit World.

Happy stopped his barrage of flaming fists once seeing that his opponed had fled. Taking deep breathes, he calmed himself as he took in what was left of his continuous attack on the Celestial Spirit.

The area where Fornax had been was now no more than a big and black crater; the ground burned. A huge column of smoke rose to the sky while the scent of ash filled the air. Hearing the rune knights approaching him, Happy turned around to face them.

"I didn't know you knew Take Over Magic, Happy-san?" It was the only explanation that came to mind after watching the show of strength that the blunette had displayed. Take Over Magic was the most powerful type of transformation magic after all.

"Nope. This form is all common Transformation Magic," Happy revealed, shocking Diavel and the other Rune Knights, who had been thinking the same as their captain.

Any further questions were stopped from being asked by the sound of an explosion coming the other side of the courtyard.

"Heh heh, that must have been Natsu's doing," the lion-man chuckled to himself.

* * *

 **07:55, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Natsu spun on his heel and then grabbed the spear by the shaft, surprising the celestial spirit, before pulling Persia to him and hitting the indian in the face with a flaming fist.

 **" Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** The punch was stronger this time, due to his Fire Dragon's Gauntlets, and thus sent the spearman flying backwards some yards away. Persia was almost knocked out, but, his will was still strong enough to make him fight the confurtable hands of uncousciousness. He tried to get up, but, he could only get to his knees; his previous wounds from Natsu's point blank Roar still hurting.

"Get up, you useless tool! Don't you dare lose to this weakling!" Adrian yelled in rage, not caring at all for his spirit's state of health.

The blonde's disregard for his comrade's wellbeing made Natsu's blood boil. So much so that he gave Adrian his more hateful glare, "Who are you calling useless, you piece of shit? Persia is fighting to protect you! Yet you still do not care for his wellbeing!" the pinkette spun Persia's black spear in his hands, which he had never let go sense grabbing it. The flames around his gauntlets covered the whole spear, before took a stance similar to Persia's and dashed forward, intent on skewering the blonde with it.

Adrian had no time to move; Natsu was already in front of him before he could even raise his rapier, spear positioned to pierce the dark mage through the stomach. But, someone got in front of him and took the blow for the blonde.

Natsu's eyes widened in shock and he gasped. In front of him was Persia, the spearman's own spear going through his gut. The man had shielded his master with his own body.

"Persia…Why did you…?" The pinkette wondered off in shock at Persia's act of self-sacrifice for someone that he did not think was worthy of it.

The indian cought some blood, before answering, **"As I told you before…Natsu Dragneel …it is my duty to serve…those who…hold…my key."**

Natsu opened his mouth to refute, but he gasped instead when he felt pain invade him from his gut. Looking down, the dragon slayer saw the reason for the pain.

His gut had been pierced by a blade.

A blade that he recognized as that of a rapier.

A rapier that he had been evading through out the whole fight.

A rapier that belonged to Adrian Black, the dark mage that he had been fighting and the current master of Persia.

The same master that Persia had shielded with his own body.

The same master that had his rapier piercing through his servant's back and gut, just to also skew him.

"And you have done a wonderful job, Persia," the master congratulated the servant.

 **"Mas-s-te-err…"** was the spirit's last words, before he was engulfed in light and faded back to the Celestial Spirit World. Adrian paid it no mind, though; his whole attention was on the pinkette that he had skewered on his rapier's blade.

"Now then, what do you have to say for yourself, mongrel? Weren't you going to 'kick my ass', as you crudely declared before?" The pale blond taunted.

"How could you?" Natsu asked with a low tone, his eyes shadowed by his pink hair.

"How could I what? Beat you? Well, that's pretty simple. I'm just better than you, mongrel," Adrian smirked with arrogance.

Natsu raised his head and glared a hatefully at the dark mage, "How could you wound your own comrade, just to get to me? How could you throw away his sacrífice without a second thought?" the dragon slayer asked through gritted teeth.

Adrian laughed at Natsu's question, "Comrade? As if! Celestial Spirits are just servants waiting to be used by mages. They are weapons! Persia was doing as it is demanded of him and protected me! And self-sacrifice? Since when can Celestial Spirits die?"

Those were all of the wrong things to say, as Adrian immediately found out when Natsu viciously punched him in the face with a guantleted fist, sending him crashing against a wall, his rapier going with him.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT! CELESTIAL SPIRITS MAY NOT BE HUMAN, BUT THEY CAN THINK, THEY CAN FEEL! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO TREAT THEM AS NOTHING MORE THAN WEAPONS!? YOU'RE NOTHING BUT SCUM!" The dragon slayer raged as his whole form was engulfed in fire, which sealed the wound on his gut shut.

Adrian got out of the wall that he had crashed into and weakly got up to his feet. He threw his broken glasses away and sent his most hateful glare at the pinkette.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR DISRESPECT, MONGREL! DIE FOR YOUR OFFENSE!" The swordsman yelled in rightful fury – at least in his opinion – and cocked his sword arm back.

 **" Piercing Light Spears** **!"** Adrian then jabbed at the pinkette multiple times, extending the blade of his rapier as he jabbed forward, before retracting it as he brought his arm back, before jabbing forward once more; all of this done so fast that the human eye wouldn't even be able to see it happening, only seeing streaks of light.

However, Natsu's eyes were not those of a human. No, his eyes were those of a dragon, which helped him see things in a greater detail than any other human could – unless they had Eye Magic to help them with that or were dragon slayers too.

Though, just because he could see them, it didn't mean he had the needed speed to dodge all of them. So, choosing to go with the most saveful route, Natsu brought his blazing arms into a crossguard as he called out his spell.

 **" Fire-Make: Fire Dragon's Shield** **!"** The fire engulfing his body gained life and turned into a rounded shield in front of the the pinkette, shielding his whole body from the blinding fast thrusts of Adrian's rapier.

Adrian could not believe it. He refused to believe it. His strongest attack blocked by that mongrel! No! This was not right!

"I'LL KILL YOU, MONGREL!" He shouted in anger as he increased the speed of his thrusts. It was an excercise in futility, though, as Natsu's fire shield held on throughout the barrage of jabs.

The increase in speed made it more difficult to keep up with the rapier's blade, but Natsu managed to figure out the pattern of Adrian's attack and, timing it right, he broke his crossguard, and his fire shield consequently, before catching the blade of Lambet Light between his hands; skidding back three feet due to the momentum that it caried.

"What!?" Adrian couldn't believe his eyes! That mongrel had managed to catch his blade with his hands! How in the nine circles of hell did he managed to do it!?

"I'm tired of hearing your voice, scum!" The dragon slayer then breathen in, before letting out a stream of fire at the piece of trash that was his opponent.

 **" Fire Dragon's Roar** **!"** The stream of fire was huge, since Natsu didn't held back anything this time. The fire quickly got to Adrian, who had been futilely trying to yank his rapier from Natsu's hard grip.

"AAAAHHH!" The dark mage yelled in pain, the fire burning his whole body while sending him crashing through the wall behind him.

Natsu ceased breathing out fire once he felt the blade in his hands start retracting to its original size. The dragon slayer took a step back when the blade stopped retracting with a bit of a recoil and then grabbed it by its handle. The dragon slayer then looked on as the cloud of smoke, dirt and dust resulting from the broken wall cleared along with his flames, showing Adrian in his all burnt glory.

The blonde's clothes were all burned to tatters, exposing his torso, arms and legs, all of which had third degree burns, along with the swordsman's face.

"Hmph, piece of crap," the dragon slayer growled at the unconcious form of his opponent. He then looked at the rapier in his hands and evaluated it. It was in prime condition, the blade was light, suited for fast strikes, but it was also durable, strong enough to pierce through steel in the right hands.

 _'Yeah, this will make a good gift for her,'_ he thought to himself, before sending Lamble Light and his Fire Dragon's Gauntlets to his pocket dimension; the rapier taking a bit more of time because of Natsu's unfamiliarity with it. The pinkette then went to Adrian's knocked out form and searched it for the blonde's Silver Celestial Spirit Gate Keys. Once having all three in his hand, he sent them to his pocket dimension too.

That done, he grabbed Adrian's body, putting it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and made his way to the Rune Knights' station to regroup with Happy and the freed Rune Knights.

* * *

 **08:10, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

As Natsu got inside the station, he saw that the dark mages were all bound by magic sealing handcuffs and were being transported to the holding cells in the basement. He went to one of the knights and gave him Adrian's knocked out body.

"Here, put him with the rest of these scum," he said as he let Adrian fall to the ground in front of the knight.

"Hai! And thank you for your help in freeing us, Natsu-san," the man thanked the pinkette, before kneeling down to grab the burnt blonde.

"It's nothing. You're welcome, though," Natsu waived off the man's thanks and then used his nose to find his partner.

Following Happy's scent, the dragon slayer came to a door that had a plaque that said 'Captain's Office'. Going in, Natsu saw Happy seating on chair in front of a desk, bandages wrapped around his head. Seating on the other side of the desk was a man with long, blue hair and standing behind him was a man with spiky, light-brown hair. All three turned to the door as the pinkette entered.

"Natsu!" Greeted the blue cat as Natsu sat on the chair at his left.

"Hi there, Happy! I see you got beaten up a bit," the pinkette commented.

"This is nothing! You should see how the other guy is!" Bragged Happy, whose grin then turned to a smirk. "I bet I kicked more ass than you!"

"Pff, as if, furball!" Natsu sneered with no real bite or hard feelings in his voice, this was just how the two interacted. The pinkette then changed his attention to the blunette on the other side of the desk.

"So, you're the one incharge?" He asked, receiving a nod from the rune knight.

"Yes, I'm Captain Diavel. And the one behind me is my second-in-command, Lieutenant Kibaou," Diavel introduced himself and Kibaou, before bowing his head to Natsu. "In the name of the 36th Branch of the Rune Knights, I thank you, both of you, for your help in freeing Dandelion Town."

Natsu chuckled as he scratched his right cheek with his index finger, "It's nothing, really. Just doing what's right. Plus, you shouldn't thank us yet. We still have to beat the other two guys that are at the town hall."

"Nonetheless, I thank you for what you have done so far. Had it not been for you and your friends, who knows for how much longer this town could last under Dead Man's Hand's grasp."

"As Happy told you my plan?" Natsu asked with a serious look on his face.

"Yes, and I informed the Magic Council of what happened when I was freed by Happy-san. They've sent a platoon of Rune Knights to aid us. The platoon should, as of right now, take half an hour to get here by train, since they were sent from Lirio, which is the closest town in this area," Diavel informed as he took a look at the time.

"What about the men in the mines? And did all of the villagers evacuate as planned?"

"We have limited personnel, so I could only send five of my men to go check out the mines. As for the civilians; they seem to have heeded your advice and evacuated to the safe houses on the outskirts of the town," the captain reported with a smile, happy that the civilians of his town were safe.

Natsu nodded at that, a smile on his face. Last night, he had sent Happy and Blaze to leave messages at the houses of the villagers, advising them to evacuate at sunrise so that Dead Man's Hand couldn't use them as hostages.

"Very well, we will be going then," Natsu got up and then looked at his partner, "Let's go, Happy! We have more ass to kick!"

"Aye, sir!" The blue cat cheered as jumped to his father figure's shoulder.

"Are you sure of this, Natsu-san? You and Happy-san just finished fighting against their lieutenants," the captain tried to reason with pinkette, worried for their saviours.

Natsu gave him a grin and a tumbs up, "Don't worry about us; we are much stronger than what we showed you guys when fighting that preety boy and those scum bags."

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

Diavel sighed and said, "Very well, good luck then. We will be there as soon as the reinforcements arrive."

"Thanks and see ya later!" With that said, Natsu and Happy left the office.

* * *

 **08:15, August 5th, X784, Near Dandelion's Town Hall, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Natsu and Happy were now on the side of the road that led to the common hall, waiting for Flare and Blaze to come as planned. It didn't take long for both dragon slayer and cat to hear the flapping of wings and both looked up to see Blaze, in his normal form, flying down to them while carrying Flare.

"Hey there, guys. How did it go on your end?" Natsu inquired after they landed in front of him and Happy.

"It went great! Flare even beat up one of their lieutenants! A blonde chick that used Golden Hair, a branch of Hair Magic that allowed her to turn her hair into gold!" Blaze recounted excitedly from his spot on top of Flare's head.

"That's awesome, Flare! See, I told you were strong enough to help us. You just need more experience, which will then boost your confidence," the pinkette told her.

"Thank you, Natsu-kun. How did your part go?" Flare asked with a red tint in her cheeks from her friends' compliments.

"Meh, it was a piece of cake. I also fought a lieutenant, a swordsman that used Celestial Spirit Magic," Natsu told her. "He was a piece of trash! Treating his spirits like tools! He even stabbed one of them from behind just to get to me! And the guy had just taken an attack ment for his master!" Natsu's body was starting to heat up due to his anger, so Happy tried to calm down his father.

"It's alright, Natsu; you've already beat the ass of that guy and got his keys and sword. Lucy will treat those spirits much better than that scum and you know that."

Natsu breathed in and out, calming down and cooling his body temperature, "Thanks, Happy."

The blue cat shook his head, waving off his thanks, "It's ok."

Natsu looked Blaze and Flare and asked, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's beat some dark mage ass!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy and Blaze cheered, while Flare giggled at their antics. The four of them then made their way up the small mountain until they were facing the iron gates that blocked the entrance to the common hall.

"Well, shall we knock, Flare?" The pinkette sarcastically asked the redhead as he ignited his right fist in red and orange flames.

Flare smiled and ignited her left fist in crimson flames, "Of course, Natsu-kun." Both then cocked their fists back before punching the iron gates at the same time, while calling out their respective spells.

 **" Fire/Purgatory Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"**

The iron gates were sent flying out of their hinges and the dragon slayers and cats walked in to the front yard of the town hall.

They stopped when the doors of the town hall opened and two figures came walking out. One of them was a tall and thin man wearing a brown suit with a blue tie and a wide-brimmed fedora hat. The other man was more muscular and was dressed as a hunter.

"Welcome, friends. You just got here in time of the party!" The man in the suit cheered after blowing out a ring of smoke.

"Party?" Natsu repeated confused.

"Yes, you guys, and the lady, are the appetizers," with that said, the man took out a bunch of cards from his left breast pocket and threw them into the air.

"What is he doing?" Flare asked.

"He must be the leader, the one that uses Magic Card!" Blaze pointed out.

 **"** **Card Dimension: Release** **!"** The man called out and all of the thirty cards that he had thrown to the air lighted up like a light. Bright figures came out from the cards and landed on the front yard, before their shine ended and the dragon slayers and cats could get a good look at them.

"Damn! This just go a bit more difficult," cursed Natsu.

Surrounding Natsu, Flare, Happy and Blaze were thirty beasts. Half of them were half-human, half-feline-like creatures with white manes and circular patterns all over their fur. The other half was made of masculine humanoid lizard-like creatures with spiked scales covering their body. They possessed a plate that covered their forehead and a light-colored mane that ranged from the top of their skull to their back. Their legs also took a hove-like appearance.

"W-What a-are this creatures?" Flare asked in slight panic at seeing the hungry look on the beasts' eyes.

"They're Weretigers and Lizardmen, very dangerous beasts that most mages don't encounter outside an high A-Class job or a low S-Class job," explained Happy with wide eyes and a gulp.

"Hahaha! I hope you have a good time playing with my pets. My partner and I have a meeting with the villagers of this town that we don't want to miss, so, bye bye!" The leader then disappeared in a whirlwind of cards, while the other man jumped from one end of the yard to the other in one jump, before taking another jump and disappearing from the group's sights.

"Shit! We have to go stop them!" Natsu exclaimed in distress while eyeing the beasts around them.

"In case you didn't notice, we are surrounded by very hungry beasts, Natsu!" Blaze shouted as some of the beasts were already salivating and getting closer to them.

"Let's beat these pussy cats and geckos then!" The male dragon slayer shouted as he ignited his fists in flames.

"I'm with you, Natsu! I'm gonna show these tigers who the real king is!" Happy exclaimed before jumping from his perch on top of Natsu's head and transforming into his Beast King form.

"No way am I allowing you to get all of the fun!" Blaze too jumped from Flare's head and transformed into a fox with red-orange fur and slitted, red eyes. In this form, Blaze had the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands and was standing on his hind legs like a human. The most noticible feature of this form, however, were the nine, long, red-orange tails that he had sprouting from his back.

Seeing her friends courage and determination, Flare swallowed her nerves and fear, "I won't hold you guys behind!" She then ignited her fists in hell-fire and took a ready stance.

"Yosh! Let's give these guys an ass kicking!" Natsu ordered, before throwing himself into a group of Lizardmen.

"Aye, sir!" The other three yelled out in acknowledgement and too jumped into groups of Lizardmen and Weretigers.

* * *

 **There, done!**

 **Well, I hope that you all liked this chapter, even though it is shorter than what I would like. If there is anything that you didn't like or want to discuss with me about, leave a review or PM me.**

 **For those that didn't get it. Tubalcain Alhambra is based on the character from Hellsing Ultimate** **with the same name. Sergei, though, is based on Kraven from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. Also, yes, Blaze just transformed into a smaller Kurama from Naruto. Not that original, I know, but I was kinda in a rush and couldn't think of anyone else for a transformation for him.**

 **Chapter 7 shall be posted on May 31st, should nothing happen to interfere with that.**

 **See ya later.**

 **P.S: This chapter was revised. Due to the changes made on chapter 4, I had to slightly change the fights in this chapter.**


	7. I Call!

**Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to Tuesday Night Fairy Tale! And, yes, I've decided to change our bi-weekly encounters to that.**

 **At any rate, Natsu isn't with us tonight, unfortunately. (Sighs) However, the show must go on!**

 **So, without further ado, here is chapter 7!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail in any way or form, no matter how much I wish I did. I do, however, claim to own my OCs and plot twists.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

 _'Master'_ – Thoughts

 **"Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

 _ **'** **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

 **"** **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 7 – I Call!**

* * *

 **08:18, August 5th, X784, Dandelion's Town Hall, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Weretigers were beasts of speed and could move at speeds that equaled a mage using High Speed.

Natsu and Flare used their quick reflexes and advanced senses of sight, hearing and smell to block and dodge the carnivorous felines lunges; while at the same time using their own speed against them to hit certain parts of the body and knock them out.

 **" Fire Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** Was the pinkette's chosen spell to use as he leaned to the right, avoiding the claw swipe of a weretiger, before punching the beast in the gut and sending it sliding back. Flare then dashed at the weretiger, her body surrounded by an aura of hell-fire.

 **" Purgatory Dragon's Fire Spin** **!"** The tornado of crimson flames hit the feline beast, sending it flying backwards and through a wall of the town hall with third degree burns.

Natsu then dropped to a knee, having seen another weretiger lungging at him from his left. Natsu then quickly swipped the beast off of its feet with a low, spinning swip kick; but, the creature showed its agility as it corrected its body and landed on its feet.

 **" Purgatory Dragon's Claw** **!"** Before the predator could lunge at the pinkette, however, Flare hit it in the back of the head with a blazing kick, knocking it out.

Meanwhile, Happy was in a show of strength with a weretiger; both felines grabbing each other's paws and trying to push the other back. Seeing another weretiger getting impatient because of their stalemate and lugging at him from behind, Happy stopped pusing forward and pivoted to the right.

The first weretiger stumble forward, due to the loss of countering force to his forward pushing, and crashed into the second weretiger that had been trying to attack Happy from behind.

 **" Beast King's Crimson Lariat** **!"** The lion-man took advantage of the situation and charged at his opponents, striking them with a Lariat, his arms being incased in crimson flames. The strength of the attack was enough to send both Weretigers to the ground and knock them out with a concussion.

The speed and strenght of Happy's Beast King form proved to be equal to those of the Weretigers, so, he was the one having the least difficulty to fight them.

Blaze, on the other hand, was using the tails of his Nine-Tailed Fox form fluently, like he had been born with them. The tails blocked, wrapped and stroke the Weretigers like they were snakes, and his claws stroke them fast and hard.

Summersaulting over a claw swipe and over the Weretiger which the claw belonged to, Natsu ignited his feet and delivered an axe-kick to the weretiger behind the first one, knocking the feline down. Behind him, Flare connected with a three hit combo of flaming kicks that knocked out the first Weretiger.

"Ugh!" Grunted Natsu as he was hit from the left by what he tought was one big magic four wheeler and rolled through the ground. He rolled to his feet a few yards away from his previous location and look up to see the Lizardman that had cheapshot him.

Now, Lizardmen were the opposite of the Weretigers; build for strength and defence with their hard scales and spiked bodies. Breaking through their scales was no easy thing to do.

 **" Requip: Fire Dragon's Gauntlets** **!"** Armed with his gauntlets, Natsu shot forward at the lizard, while igniting said gauntlets on fire.

 **" Fire Dragon's Piercing Claw** **!"** The dragon slayer called out as he ducked under a claw swipe at his torso and stabbed the beast in the gut. The Lizardman roared in pain, but was silenced by another claw through its heart. He took his left hand from the beast's chest, a river of blood flowing from it as the carcass hit the floor, dead.

Natsu wasn't one for killing, it just wasn't him. But, his time with Atlas made him learn that there were times when one had to kill. On the bright side, at least he had killed a wild beast, and not a human. He did not think that he had what it took to take another human's life…And he did not want to find out if he was sure or not about that.

Natsu was brought out of his thoughts by a roar coming from ahead. He looked up ahead and saw Flare surrounded by three Lizardmen and two Weretigers. The dragon slayer quickly dashed forward to his friend's aid.

* * *

 **08:20, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Diavel walked through the halls of his station until he came to the entrance hall. The hall was filled with wounded men, since the infirmary was overcrowded. His eyes surveyed the group of men that had been made to work on the mines and stopped when they came upon the dark skinned figure of a muscular man.

"Good to see that you're alright, Andrew," the blunette commented relieved as he approached his dear friend, who was seating on the floor along with some other workers.

Andrew looked away from the conversation that his co-workers were having and up to Diavel's face. A smile grew on his lips as he saw the bluenette, "Yeah, I have some cuts and bruises. Nothing that I haven't gotten before from when some of my patrons got too tipsy." His smile then dropped a bit and his face grew worried, "Do you know where Anna is? Is she safe?"

The Rune Knight Captain nodded his head in confirmation, making his friend let out a breath of relief. "She and the rest of the villagers were evacuaded at sunrise, before our wizard friends started their attack. They informed everyone during the night and advised them to leave to the bunkers on the outskirts of Dandelion," Diavel informed.

"That's good to hear. We have a lot to thank them for after all of this is over," he commented.

Diavel nodded in agreement, "Yes, we do have," his face then turned grim, "Though, they'll have to survive against the last lieutenant of Dead Man's Hand and its leader first."

"Don't worry; Flare, the girl that helped me and the others, is strong. And that yellow cat is not to be underestimated. If the other two that helped you are as strong as them, I believe that they have a good chance," the dark skinned man tried to alleviate his friend's worries.

Diavel sighed and nodded to his friend, "I sure hope so."

"CAPTAIN!" A Rune Knight shouted as he made his way to the blunette, his face an expression of fear.

"What is it, soldier?" The captain asked with a frown as he turned to face his subordinate.

"Our scouts just sent a message! Forty dark mages of Dead Man's Hand came from the northeast section of the village and are moving in the direction of the station! We've got confirmation that the last lieutenant of Dead Man's Hand and its leader are leading it!" The knight informed, his voice filled with fear. Silence filled the whole hall, everyone's expressions those of fear and shock.

Diavel's eyes widened at this. _'Did Natsu-san and Happy-san fail?'_ He thought in dread. _'If they couldn't beat those two, what chance do we have?'_

"Good thing that I teleported here then," they heard someone say from the entrance. Everyone turned their heads to the entrance to see to whom the voice belonged.

They saw a lean-built man of average height with short, almost shaved black hair, with a slightly outlined widow's peak, and complete with mildly long sideburns. He had large, bright emerald turquoise eyes, and thin eyebrows. The left side of his face was covered by three distinctive scars: the shortest one that pointed diagonally upwards in his left eye's direction, and "connected" by the longest scar, diagonally in the other way, to the similarly oriented one which went up to his forehead. Such scars harmlessly covered the man's left eyebrow and part of his hair, passing over them. Hanging from his left ear was a simple earring, with an elongated pendant attached to it.

The man also wore a Council uniform, which consisted of a dark jacket with light-colored edges and a pair of buttoned bands on each sleeve, worn over a lighter shirt bearing the dark ankh-like symbol typical of the Rune Knights, mildly loose, light pants held up by a simple belt, similarly colored gloves and shoes, and a light cape held in place by a rhomboidal buckle adorned by a gem.

Diavel's eyes widened as he recognized the man, "Doranbolt!?"

The man, now known as Doranbolt, gave a smile to the blunette captain as he approached him, "Long time no see, Diavel. It's good to see you, though, I would've liked if it was under better circunstances."

"Yeah, it's good to see you too, Bolt," Diavel commented with a smile. "You used your Teleportation Magic to get here?"

The ravenette nodded in confirmation, "Yes, once the train was close enough, I teleported here to access the situation. From what I've just heard, it isn't good."

"Yeah, how much longer do you think it will take for the reinforcements to get here?" Diavel asked, worried for the lives of his men and friends. They would not be able to hold on forty men and two powerful mages for long, if at all.

Doranbolt's smile dropped at that question, "We managed to get a train faster than what he estimated. Lahar and the reinforcements should take fifteen minutes to get to Dandelion's Train Station." He then looked at the knight that had reported Dead Man's Hand's movements, "How long until the dark mages reach us?"

The knight swallowed before answering, "They were at the other side of the town when I was informed. I estimate that they will reach us in five minutes, should they move at a normal pace." Everybody looked grim at hearing that, it weren't good news at all.

"I see; so, we'll have to hold the fort for at least ten minutes," concluded Doranbolt. He then looked at Diavel and ordered, "Gather anyone that is in condition to fight. I want archers and sharpshooters in the buildings overlooking all of the roads that lead to this station." Doranbolt then looked at Andrew, "You and the other civilians should move to the safe houses as fast and sthealty as possible. We would give you an escort, but, we are short on men power right now."

The dark skinned man shook his head in denail, "I ain't going anywhere. I'm staying right here to help," he stated. "Like you said, you're short on men power and, even though we are no mages, we still know how to use our hands and heads to fight. Give us some weapons and orders and we will accomplish them." Andrew then looked at his fellow co-workers that fought alongside him in the mines, "Ain't that right, men!?"

"YEAH!" All of the workers cheered. They were scared, sure; but, they would fight for their freedom and home anyway. Even at the threat of death.

Diavel put a hand on Doranbolt's left shoulder, getting his attention. Looking at his face, the ravenette could see that he was worried.

"Couldn't you just teleport the reinforcements here?" The bluenette asked. He didn't want his friends, the ones not in the military, to risk their lives when it wasn't their job to.

Doranbolt knew why his friend asked that, and he too didn't want to have civilians fight the battle of knights; but, the situation was dire.

"Unfortunately, I cannot. My magic reserves are not big enough to transport a group of fifty men in one go and the distance is too long for me to transport more than four men with me, and that would be pushing it. It would take too long and too much out of me to do it," Doranbolt explained with a dejected expression.

"I see," sighed the captain. The ravenette placed a hand on his shoulder to give him some moral strength.

"We will have to do with what we have for now. We only need to hold the fort until Lahar gets here with the reinforcements."

Diavel let out a chuckle as a certain memory came to him, "Let's hope that he doesn't take as long as he did to notice Jeanne's feelings," he joked.

"Yes, let's not," the ravenette agreed with his own chuckle as he remembered how long Lahar had taken to notice his girlfriend's feelings.

* * *

 **08:25, August 5th, X784, On the road that leads to the Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

The forces of Death Man's Hand marched to the Rune Knights' Station, where the rebels that had had the bright idea of rebelling were staying. They were a force of forty strong dark mages, the last men and women that had escaped before they could've been captured by those red-head and blonde kids and the rebelling workers at the mines.

Strolling in front of them were Alhambra and Sergei, the leader and first lieutenant respectively; also known for their ephitets of Ace of Spades and Ace of Clubs. Tubalcain Alhambra had a grin on his face and walked with confidence and amusement, like everything that was happening was nothing more than a game to him. In contrast, Sergei Kravinoff stalked with dangerous grace; like he was a predator, ready and waiting to lunge at his prey. In their own way, both made the foot soldies of Death Man's Hand near them feel very nervous and afraid.

The last free members of the opression in Dandelion Town had met ten or so minutes ago, their leaders joining after taking care of the mages that had started this whole mess. It had took them little time to organize themselves and march through the town in route to the Rune Knight Station, killing any rebels on the way.

As they approached the station from its left flank, Tubalcain spotted someone in the middle of the road and stopped, raising his right hand in a gesture to order his men to stop too. Taking a few steps forward, the leader of Death Man's Hand adressed the rune knight in front of him.

"Good morning, Sir Knight. I must say, what a beautifull morning it is today. Wouldn't you agree?" The sarcasm could be clearly felt in his mocking tone.

Doranbolt, however, wasn't phased by it, "I'm Doranbolt, Vice Captain of the 4th Custody Enforcement Unit; and under the power that was given to me by the Magic Council, I hereby declare you all guilty of crimes against the town of Dandelion and its people." He told them, in a loud and clear voice. "You are all under arrest. Resist and I'll have to use force."

The dark mage and guildmaster laughed at Doranbolt, "That was the best joke I heard in a long time! I gotta say, you should've been a comediant," Tubalcain's grin then turned blood thirsty and wicked, "If you had, you wouldn't become the sorry carcass that I'll turn you to!"

In a move too fast for the untrained eye, Tubalcain drew five cards from within his right sleeve and threw them at Doranbolt.

 **" Card Knives** **!"** The dark mage entoned as he threw his razor-sharp cards at his target.

The cards soared through the air between them in seconds; Doranbolt, however, wasn't your run of the mill rune knight.

Tubalcain's eyes widened when the man that should've been bleeding to death on the ground disappeared even before his cards could touch him. He then gasped when he felt a sudden pain in his gut and was sent flying back against his men.

Doranbolt, who had used his Teleportation Magic to avoid Tubalcain's cards and get in front of the man without him noticing, quickly rolled to the left, dodging the punch from Sergei that had been directed at him and cracked the ground where he had stood instead.

"NOW!" Shouted the Vice-Captain of the 4th CEU. All of the windows of the buildings surrounding them then opened to show rows upon rows of men armed with either bows and arrows or guns, some were even on the rooftops too; all pointing at the dark mages in the middle of the road.

"FIRE!" All of the men let loose of their arrows and bullets, letting a rain of pain and death fall on the dark mages that had been tormenting their town for three months. Some of the dark mages went down, but, the majority manage to either block the arrows and bullets with magic or dodge them.

"Kill these vermin, men!" Ordered Tubalcain and the remaining thirty men responded with a "Yes, sir!" The long-range mages fought back with elemental spells, while the close-range mages took advantage of the cover provided by their long-rage comrades and went inside the buildings, cruel intentions in their minds.

Doranbolt suddenly appeared behind Tubalcain and said, "Let's go on a walk," he then disappeared along the dark guild master. The disappearance of their leader made some of the dark mages panic; but, Sergei quickly took over command.

"Do not falter! Kill these sheep or I'll be the one killing you!" He threatened, making the dark mages focus even more on their fights.

"Fight for freedom, men! Fight for a better future!" Diavel shouted as he and Agil came at the dark mages from one end of the road with ten Rune Knights behind them, while Kibaou and the other ten came from the other end.

 _'A pincer attack from all sides,'_ noted Sergei, before ordering his men to focus on the archers and snipers and then jumping into battle with Diavel and Agil.

* * *

 **08:27, August 5th, X784, Dandelion Mines, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Tubalcain dropped to the ground on his gut. Getting up to his feet, he took a look around himself.

"The mines, uh? Quite a leap, I must say," he commented to Doranbolt, who was standing a few meters away in front of him.

"This place is deserted; no one will interfere with our match, nor will you be able to use my or your own men as shields," informed the Rune Knight.

"You think that I would be able of such cowardly acts, Sir Knight?" Tubalcain asked with an innocent face.

"Yes," deadpanned Doranbolt, clearly seeing through the dark mage's act.

Tubalcain's innocent expression turned into a cocky one as he smirked, "Meh, I need no one's help to chop you into little pieces!" his smirk then turned sadistic, "Can you say the same, though!?"

Faster than the eye could see the card mage once more drew five cards to each hand and threw them at Doranbolt with pinpoint precission and bullet-like speed.

 **" Card Knives** **!"**

Doranbolt used his Teleportation Magic to dodge the razor-sharp cards and then appeared on the dark mage's right flank. Before Tubalcain could react, the rune knight went for a left hook to the face.

Tubalcain proved to be ready this time, though, and stepped back as soon as he saw a blur on the corner of his right eye, dodging the punch. He then responded to the attack with a horizontal swipe of his left hand, which, once again, had razor-sharp cards between its fingers.

Doranbolt leaned back slightly, enough to avoid the swipe at his throat. The blach haired man then went for a right punch, followed by a left uppercut and then a right kick to the gut.

The fedora wearing mage dodged the punches and blocked the kick with his left knee. He then threw one of his cards at Doranbolt's eyes and called out, **"** **Flash Card** **!"**

"Ahhh!" Screamed the rune knight as he was blinded by the light that came from the card at pointblank rage from his eyes.

Tubalcain, who had closed his eyes before calling out his spell, took advantage of the his enemy's distraction and threw the cards on his left hand at Doranbolt.

The black haired mage felt four cards cut and Pierce his body. Two on his chest, one on his right shoulder and the last one on his left thigh. He quickly teleported away, before his opponent could follow up with another attack.

"What's the matter? Weren't you going to arrest me? Put me behind bars so that this pathetic town could have their freedom? Are you going to let a little blindness stop you from performing what you call justice?" Mocked the dark mage.

Doranbolt grew angry by his words, but, calmed down, took out the razor-sharp cards from his body and accessed his wounds. The cards cut deep, but, missed the major arteries. His jacket was getting bloodied, so Doranbolt took it out, along with his cape, leaving only his light-blue shirt clothing his torso. He did all of this with eyes closed.

"I don't need my sight," Doranbolt started saying, before he teleported and appeared behind Tubalcain, back to back with him, "To beat you to a pulp."

The eyes of the leader of Death Man's Hand grew wide and he quickly turned around, swinging his right hand, full with razor-sharp cards, in a backswipe. He hit nothing but air, though, before he felt pain on the left side of his face and was sent rolling through the dirt.

He came to a stop a few feet away from his previous location; clothes dirtied too much for his taste. Getting up and looking ahead, he saw Doranbolt standing were he once stood before being kicked. Tubalcain was quite surprised to see the rune knight's eyes still closed.

"How can you know where I am without seeing me?" The dark mage asked.

Doranbolt, in return, only smiled as he cracked his knuckles, "That's for me to know and you to find out." He then disappeared once more.

Before Tubalcain could move, he was kneed in the gut, kicked in the back of his right knee, thus forced to kneel, and then kicked in the back of his head and forced to eat dirt, his fedora hat falling from his head.

Doranbolt then appeared on his side, his head down but his eyes still closed, "You focused so much on magic, that you forgot to train your body; the error that most mages commit." The rune knight was about to kneel and put anti-magic cuffs on the dark mage, but, he stopped when he heard the man chuckle.

Tubalcain moved his head to look up at Doranbolt, "You hit like a girl, Sir Knight." The dark mage then rolled to his side, drew a card from his sleeve and streched his right arm forward, the card facing Doranbolt. He did all of this in a second, before calling out, **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Storm Bringer** **!"**

From the card on Tubalcain's palm, a furious wind was released, catching Doranbolt in its grip and blowing him backwards. The wind became a tornado in seconds, trapping Doranbolt in the middle of it.

"AAAHHH!" Screamed the rune knight as he felt the blades of wind cut through his clothes and into his skin. After what seemed to have been a whole minute to Doranbolt, the spinning wind slowed until the tornado dispersed. The black haired man fell to the ground in a hip, his shirt shredded and barely covering his torso, which had cuts all over its skin. His pants weren't much better, but, still covered most of his lower body.

Meanwhile, Tubalcain had already gotten up, grabbed his fedora hat, patted the dirt out of it and what he could from his suit, before putting his hat back on top of his head. The man's sick grin was back on his face once again when he saw Doranbolt's condition.

Walking towards the rune knight, the dark mage started talking, "Do you take me to be like other mages, Sir Knight? Do not insult me so! I trained my body so that it could take quite the punishment. Quite frankly, your attacks didn't hurt that much at all, though, that could be me, since I'm accustomed to Sergei's punches and kicks."

Once he reached Doranbolt, the rune knight was already up on his knees. The dark mage chuckled, "Oh, that won't do. You seem to need some lying in, Sir Knight. Let me help you with that." Taking another card, this time from his inner breast pocket, Tubalcain threw it above Doranbolt's figure and called out, **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Thunderbolt** **!"**

The card stopped in mid-air, facing down at Doranbolt, before glowing yellow. A thunderbolt shot from the card and down at the kneeling figure of Doranbolt. The knight, however, had the presence of mind to teleport out of the way. The thunderbolt hit the ground where the black haired man had been seconds before, creating a small crater and blowing up a cloud of dirt.

"Tch," grunted Tubalcain as he once more patted his suit to clean the dirt from it. "You are very ungrateful, Sir Knight! I offer you a shocking treatment as a way to relax and you not only run away, but, you also dirt my suit; again!" Complained the dark mage, before he looked to his right. Doranbolt was standing some twenty feet away from him, breathing heavily and bleeding from his many cuts. His eyes were still closed, which ment that he still couldn't quite see yet.

"For a knight, you're quite rude," the dark mage acused with a sneer.

"And for a criminal, you're quite resourceful," the rune knight noted.

Tubalcain grinned at Doranbolt, not that he coud see it, "Why, thank you. Yes, I am quite resourceful. There aren't that many mages that can see just how powerful Card Magic can be."

"Yes, that is quite true," admited Doranbolt, "Too bad your genius will be of no help to you when you're behind bars."

"You still wanna dance, Sir Knight?" Tubalcain's grin became a sadistic one again at that. "By all means then," the dark mage drew two decks of forty cards from his inner pockets and threw them into the air, where they stayed floating, controlled by Tubalcain's Telekinesis, "Dance for me, Sir Knight!" He cackled as he sent his cards forward at Doranbolt.

* * *

 **08:27, August 5th, X784, On the road that leads to the Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 _'A pincer attack from all sides,'_ noted Sergei, before ordering his men to focus on the archers and snipers and then jumping into battle with Diavel and Agil and their group.

 **" Animal Possession: Jaguar** **!"** Called out Sergei as he descended on his targets. His body was then surrounded by a red aura, which took the form of a jaguar.

"Look out!" Agil called out as he saw the last lieutenant of Death Man's Hand fall down upon their ranks.

As soon as Sergei touched the ground and was among the ten rune knights being led by Diavel and Agil, he lashed out with a kick from his right leg to the head of a knight, sending the man flying away.

Two men rushed at the dark mage from behind, but, Sergei dropped to the ground, ducking under their slashes. Performing an handstand, he then heel kicked both men under their jaws, making them back flip due to the force behind those kicks.

Rolling forward with the momentum, Sergei drew his trench knife from the pouch on his right leg to block a descending sword slash at his head; even as he called out, **"** **Animal Possession: Tiger** **!"**

The red aura around Sergei's body changed, its feautures now those of a tiger. With new found strength, Sergei rose from his kneeling position and pushed the knight, which had attacked him, back a few feet. That proved to be fatal for the knight, for Sergei then punched the man with enough force to break the man's skull and neck.

"You son of a bitch!" Another rune knight, one with red hair and a muscled body, yelled in rage at his comrade's death. Blinded by anger, the knight lunged at the dark mage and swung his claymore in a wide arc. Sergei easily ducked under the swing and then stroke fast with his trench knife, cutting the man's throat. The knight fellll on his face, blood flowing from his throat no matter what he tried to do to stop it.

"Gerald!" Yelled another knight, this one with white hair and more athletic build, as he tried to go help his friend. He didn't even move three feet before Sergei stompped on Gerald's head, breaking the skull and sending the rune knight to the afterlife. The albino knight's eyes widened in horror, before they narrowed into a hate filled glare that he directed at Sergei.

"I'll kill you, you piece of shit!" The man roared, and he would've made true to that threat, had not it been for Agil getting in front him and stopping the albino knight.

"Everyone, stop!" Ordered Diavel. "We must keep our heads straight or we will lose them!"

"How wise of you, Knight," complemented Sergei as he surveyed his surroundings and analyzed the remaining ten men surrounding him, including the Rune Knight Captain and the black skinned worker. All of the rune knights seemed to either be terrified of him or loathe him. "However, you must not really think that sheep like you have the strength to beat me, your predator?"

"You are strong, no doubt about it," conceded the bluenette. "Do not, however, look down on strength in numbers. Even weak people, when united, can bring down a loner, stronger foe."

"Sheep will always be sheep; no matter how many join together, they will never kill the wolf," snorted the dark mage. "And I shall prove the truth of my words to you, right now." With that said, Sergei dashed forward at Diavel, trench knife ready to cut flesh and spill blood into the battlefield.

* * *

 **Well, I hope you all liked this chapter, because it gave quite the fight to be done. I think my Fairy Tail inspiration may be running out for a bit. After I have this arc finished, I may or not go back to either RHoG or ToP, or publish any of the new stories that I have in mind. Just so you know, I have more than thirty fics planned, though, only ten are somewhat organized in therms of plot and only five of those ten are capable of being noticed by my muse. Well, let's wait and see.**

 **Chapter 8 should be up June 14th, though, it may take a bit more for me to finish it, taking into account how difficult it was for me to finish this chapter.**

 **Anyway, see ya!**


	8. All In!

**Pride: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to a special edition of Wednesday Night Faiy Tale!**

 **Natus: Fire Dragon's Roar! (Fires his roar at me)**

 **Pride: (Dodges it) Hey, what gives!?**

 **Natsu: Shut up, you bastard! What took you so long to update!? You missed the deadline for a week and one day!**

 **Pride: I'm sorry, alright! It's not easy making up battle scenes, specially good ones! (Sighs) Plus, like I told you and the viewers last time, my Fairy Tail muse is leaving me as time goes own. Quite frankly, I think she was kidnapped by my DxD muse. Though, my Fate muse may have helped her too.**

 **Natsu: Just shut up and let's get on with the chapter!**

 **Pride: Hai, hai!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail in any way or form; wish I did though. I do own my OCs and plot twists, though.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

' _Master'_ – Thoughts

" **Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

' _ **Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

" **Magic** " – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 8 – All In!**

* * *

 **Last Time**

"You are strong, no doubt about it," conceded the bluenette. "Do not, however, look down on strength in numbers. Even weak people, when united, can bring down a loner, stronger foe."

"Sheep will always be sheep; no matter how many join together, they will never kill the wolf," snorted the dark mage. "And I shall prove the truth of my words to you, right now." With that said, Sergei dashed forward at Diavel, trench knife ready to cut flesh and spill blood into the battlefield.

* * *

 **08:27, August 5th, X784, Near the Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Kibaou was not a nice man; he knew that. He also knew that he was too hot headed to think of complicated plans and that he didn't trust strangers easily. It was because he knew all of this about himself that he prefered to heed the orders of his best friend, Diavel. He was a soldier, not a leader. More importantly, he was loyal and courageous. He may have lost hope for freedom in the past, but, he wouldn't let that get to him now. No, he would save his town or die trying.

It was with this conviction that he fought against the lower members of Death Man's Hand along side his comrades; while the the men forced to work on the mines were raining down arrows and bullets on the dark mages from the buildings and alleys surrounding the road.

Blocking a fireball with his Reflector Shield and sending it flying back at the one who fired it, Kibaou then hit another dark mage in the head with his mace, knocking the man out if not killing him outright.

 **" Blast Bullet** **!"** Called out three dark mages with guns as they shot magical blasts at the archers and sharpshooters on the buildings. Kibaou noticed some of the mine workers going down, while some dark mages also tried to enter the buildings.

"Protect the buildings! Take out anyone that tries to enter them!" Ordered the rune knight to his comrades. The men responded with shouts of, "Yes, sir!" and started barricading the entraces to the buildings where the mine workers were shooting from. The dark mages from Death Man's Head tried to force their way through, but, were unsuccessful.

Kibaou bashed a man in the head with his shield as he tried to make his way through the rune knight. He then dodged a slash from his right by sidestepping to the left. The rune knight thrusted his mace to the man's gut, taking the wind out of him, before giving him a left hook with his shield, knocking the man out.

"Kibaou! Look out!" The spiky haired man turned around at the shout of his name, only to see a lightning bolt coming at him. Having no time whatsoever to raise his shield to block, Kibaou was hit by the lightning bolt.

"Ahhh!" Hundreds of volts shocked Kibaou as he yelled out in pain, his body spasming due to the overload of energy. And, as if that was not enough, another dark mage thought of sending a fireball at the paralyzed rune knight.

The fireball hit, burning Kibaou and sending the man flying through the wall of the building behind him.

"KIBAOU!"

* * *

 **08:27, August 5th, X784, Dandelion Mines, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 **"** **Cardsaw** **!"** Tubalcain called out as he sent his cards spinning like buzzsaws at Doranbolt with his Telekinesis.

Using his Teleportation Magic along with his agility and reflexes, Doranbolt managed to dodge most of the cards. However, due to the blood that he had already lost, he wasn't as fast as normal; plus his vision was still foggy. Due to all of this, some of the razor-sharp spinning cards did manage to cut him. Fortunately, though, the knight managed to position his body in ways so that the cuts were only superficial and not very deep.

Getting tired of this game of cat and mouse, Doranbolt teleported directly to the dark mage's left.

 **" Direct Line** **!"** He called out as he stopped to the left of Tubalcain, who noticed him immediatly. The rune knight then went for a roundhouse kick to the head.

Tubalcain, however, ducked under the kick while grinning at Doranbolt. He then called three cards to his side and shouted his spell, **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Bubble Shot** **!"**

From the three cards, torrents of bubbles shot out in a machine gun like fashion. Being at pointblank range from the cards, Doranbolt was immediatly consumed in the attack and sent flying backwards until he hit a wagon full of gold, tumbling it over.

Sprawled over the fallen wagon, the wet and brused rune knight breathed heavily as he thought, _'This is getting me nowhere.'_ Blinking his eyes rapidly, Doranbolt noticed that his vision was finally back. _'Hooray for small miracles,'_ he mentally cheered sarcastically as he got up to his feet.

"Did you like the bath I gave you, Sir Knight? You were so bloody that I thought you could use some freshing up," mocked Tubalcain. "Now, you seem to getting slower, Sir Knight. How about I wake you up with a little _shock_!" He cackled.

Doranbolt then noticed four cards surrounding him in a four point square formation, all glowing a yellow color.

 **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Lightning Bolt** **!"** The dark mage called out before a bolt of lightning shot out from each card, their target being Doranbolt. Using his Teleportation Magic, Doranbolt got out of the way and the lightning bolts colided with each other, causing a flash of light and a roar of thunder.

Taking advantage of those events as they distracted his enemy's senses, the rune knight teleported to a crounching position in front of Tubalcain, right under the dark mage's field of vision. Doranbolt then kicked the fedora wearing mage right under his jaw, sending him flying upwards into the air.

"Ugh!" Tubalcain grunted in pain due to the sudden kick as he was sent up into the air. The rune knight quickly followed the dark mage, getting behind him as he floated in mid air.

"Let's see how you like this combo," that being said, Doranbolt then spun to Tubalcain's right side before backhanding him with his left fist. He then followed it with a right hook and, as the ground got closer, the rune knight spun and hit the dark mage with an axe-kick to the stomach, right as they colided with the ground.

 **"** **Lion Barrage** **!"** Shouted Doranbolt as he finished his combo.

"Agh!" Groan Tubalcain in pain as three of his ribs cracked from the strength of that last kick and the impact with the ground. The rune knight then rolled backwards a few feet and got up to his knees as he tried to get his breath back. Looking up, he saw that Tubalcain was also kneeling on the ground, coughing blood and holding his left hand to his ribs.

Fedora hat still on his head, Tubalcain looked at the rune knight, "Quite…the combo…Sir Knight," he acknowledged through ragged breaths.

 _'Yeah, though, it still takes too much out of my body,'_ Doranbolt said in his mind, on the outside he replied, "You won't…be getting…away from me…now."

"Oh, are you sure of that, Sir Knight?"

* * *

 **08:27, August 5th, X784, Near the Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Sergei slashed at Diavel, but the knight blocked with his sword. The two clashed blades five more times, before Sergei went for a stab. Diavel blocked with his shield, but, was sent sliding backwards a few feet due to the strength behind the stab. At the same time, Sergei's trench knife broke too.

 _'Such brute strength!'_ The blunette admired in his mind. He didn't have time to admire anything else as Sergei pounced on him with an axe kick, forcing Diavel to block with his shield once more. The ground beneath the rune knight cracked as Sergei's kick connected with his Reflector Shield.

 _'If this shield was any other shield, it would've been broken already,'_ thought the dark mage as he backflipped back to the ground some feet away from the knight. _'As it is, that shield is reflecting my strength boost back to me, thus nullifying it.'_ Sergei then noted three rune knights attacking him from the right, left and back simultaneously.

"Tch, weaklings," he muttered, before changing his current animal soul for another, **"** **Animal Possession: Jaguar** **!"** The aura around Sergei changed from looking like a tiger to looking like a jaguar.

Trading strength for agility and flexibility, Sergei leaned back into a bridging position, avoiding two diagonal slashes from the two knight from his front and the horizontal one coming from behind him. He then brought his legs up and kicked the two knights in front of him right below their jaws, making them stagger backwards stunned. The dark mage then spun on his hands and kicked the man behind him on the left side of his face, making the knight spin around stunned and roll on the floor.

Getting back to his feet, Sergei quickly dodged two slashes from Andrew, who was wealding a battle axe. Sergei sidestepped a third slash, this one a vertical downwards one, before he spun to the left on his left foot and backhanded Andrew on his right cheek. He then followed it by an uppercut to the stomach and finished it with a kick to the gut, sending the black skinned man flying backwards and into a wall.

"Die you bastard!" One of the still standing knights bellowed as he attacked Sergei from behind with his long sword. Sergei spun around, avoidin the slash, before grabbing the man's wrist and slamming his elbow on the knight's own elbow, breaking it.

"AAAHHH!" The knight screamed as his elbow was broken and he was forced to drop his sword. Sergei then went behind the man and snapped his neck, killing the knight with no remorse what so ever.

* * *

 **08:32, August 5th, X784, Dandelion Mines, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

"Oh, are you sure of that, Sir Knight?" A voice behind the rune knight asked. Doranbolt's eyes widened as he turned around.

 **" Explosion Card** **!"** Shouted the voice and then the rune knight was sent flying backwards due to an explosion detonating at point blank range.

Doranbolt rolled through the ground like rag doll, pain invanding his body everytime some part of his body hit a rock, a boulder or even a wagon.

Finally stopping on his back, Doranbolt's breath escaped him, three or four of his ribs having been cracked or broken. One of them must have had puctured his lung, thus why he was having trouble breathing. Turning his head to side, the rune knight threw up some blood. Yup, he had internal bleeding.

Hearing steps coming, Doranbolt tried to get up, but his body was in too much pain to obey his commands. His head being the only part of his body that he could move relatively well, the rune knight looked to the right and, as his blurring vision focused once again, he could see not only his opponent, but also an exact copy of him.

Looking down at Doranbolt, the Tubalcain on the right, which seemed also to have almost no damage at all, chuckled, "Still think that you can arrest me, Sir Knight?"

Still having difficulty breathing, the rune knight nonetheless tried to ask, "How did-" but he was cut off by a coughing fit.

"How is there two of us, you mean, Sir Knight?" Guessed the one on the left, which was holding his ribs with his left hand. "Tsk, tsk, you really underestimate the power of Magic Card, Sir Knight," he reprimanded, before pooping into a cloud of smoke. From the cloud, a card fell out and the Tubalcain on the right caught it with between his right index and middle fingers, before showing it to the downed rune knight.

Looking up, Doranbolt saw what it could only be the figure of a joker on the front of the card, which only confused him. Seeing his expression, the dark mage laughed before explaining, "This is my **Joker Card**. What it does is simple; it makes a clone of myself that I can use to trade places with." Seeing the realization on Doranbolt's face, he laughed once again, "Yes, I used it while you were relaxing on top of that wagon. Quite brilliant if I say so myself," he bragged.

"But…how…could I not…sense you?" Asked the black haired man through his ragged breathing.

"Oh, I deduced that you were sensing my magic signature, so, I used my **Card Dimension** to take cover inside one of my blank cards. Once I saw that you were distracted, I got out and threw one of my **Explosion Cards** at you. The rest you already know," he explained.

Doranbolt had to admit, that was a very good strategy. He had never seen someone use Magic Card in such a way; most mages nowadays used it to track down people or for future telling, few were the ones that used that magic for combat, and fewer were those that used it effectively. It was because of this that many underestimated the power and versatility of this particular magic and, unfortunatly, Doranbolt had done the same mistake.

"Now then," started Tubalcain as he used his Telekinesis to float a card above the rune knight, edge facing downwards. Making the razor-sharp card spin – and thus turning it into a disk that could cut as well as a buzzsaw – the fedora wearing dark mage asked, "Any last words, Sir Knight?"

Doranbolt was about to say for Tubalcain to shove it when they heard…

 **" Fire Dragon's Gunfire** **!"**

Tubalcain's eyes widened as he saw a shower of fireballs the size of his head coming down at thim and he quickly jumped away to avoid them. Doranbolt groaned as he felt the heat from the fireballs when some of them hit the ground where Tubalcain had been standing – which had been right next to the rune knight. At least it wasn't too hot.

Once the fireballs stopped, both men looked up to see pink haired teen naked from waist up and wearing only black, knee-length trousers, black, open-toed sandals and a scale-patterned scarf around his neck. On his back was a blue cat with white feathered wings sprouting from his back.

"Ha Ah! Finally found you, you smug bastard!" Shouted the teen at the dark mage as he floated down to Doranbolt's side.

"Oh, so you and your friends managed to take care of my pets. That's impressive, I must say," Tubalcain praised, though, still having a smug grin on his face – which Natsu really wanted to beat out of his face.

"Ha! Like a bunch of pussy cats and geckos could beat me and my friends," louldy declared the pinkette, before he cracked his knuckles. "Now, I owe you a big can of ass kicking; so come and get it!"

Doranbolt was quite surprised by this sequence of events. He hadn't expected for the recently banished Fairy Tail mage Natsu Dragneel to be here, saving the town of Dandelion. He would take what he got, though; after all, for all of the destruction that he caused, Salamander was still a powerful mage. His thoughts were then cut off as another coughing fit overpowered him.

Taking a quick glance at the man coughing blood at his feet, Natsu told Happy, "Happy, I want you to use the rest of your magic power left to take our pal here back to the Rune Knight's Station."

The blue feline nodded in confirmation, "Don't worry, Natsu, I'll take good care of him. You just focus on beating this guy's ass." Happy flew down to Doranbolt, wrapped his tail around the man's waist and then rose up into the sky, gently and slowly so that he didn't cause him to much pain because of his injuries.

"Where do you think you're going cat?" Rhetorically asked Tubalcain as he sent a card at the Happy with his Telekinesis. The card, however, was caught by Natsu's fiery hand before it could get close to the blue cat.

"Go, Happy!" Urged the dragon slayer.

"You got it, Natsu!" Happy rose up as quickly as he could and then flew towards the Rune Knight's Station. Before they were out of reach, Natsu heard Doranbolt murmur, "Thank you," as they flew away.

Glaring at the grinning man in front of him, Natsu spit out, "You're gonna pay for what you did to the people of this town, you piece of shit."

"Hahaha! Big words to say boy! Let's see if you can back them up!" The dark mage then used his telekinesis to call a new deck of cards to his side, the razor-sharp cards floating around his figure.

* * *

 **08:32, August 5th, X784, Near the Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Diavel could not believe what he was seeing, _'This guy is a monster! He's killing us like cattle!'_ The blunette then saw as Sergei beheaded two of his men with the sword of the knight who had he had killed a few moments ago.

The bluenette couldn't watch it anymore. He would be damned if he stayed put as this monster killed his comrades! His friends! His brothers! With a shout of hate and anger, Diavel dashed forward at Sergei.

The dark mage impaled another knight through the chest, before pulling his newly acquired sword out of his most recent victim. Hearing someone yell, Sergei turned his eyes to his left, only to meet pure metal as he was shield bashed out of his feet.

Rolling a few feet back with his momentum, Sergei quickly got up to his feet in time to block a downward slash from the Rune Knight Captain. Even without using his Animal Possession to increase his strength, Sergei had more than enough strength to push his opponent back, ending the blade lock.

The blunette didn't relent, however, and went at him once more, this time with a series of relentless slashes. Sergei wasn't that great of a swordsman, but, he was good enough to block or parry his opponent's swings.

Parrying a diagonal downwards slash to his right side, Sergei punched Diavel in the face with a left hook. Stunned at the unexpected attack but not done, Diavel spun with the punch and went for stab at the dark mage's chest.

Sergei parried the thrust to his left, before fluently moving his sword into a horizontal swing at Diavel's head. The Captain fortunatly ducked under the slash and rolled forward. As he got back on his feet, the blunette turned around quickly and blocked a slash at his back with his shield. He then tried to stab his enemy in the gut, but, the dark mage had anticipated the move and spun around it. Once behind him, Sergei went for a stab at his heart.

He didn't foresee, however, being bulldozed by what he could only describe as a train and sent crashing into a building to his left along with what crashed into him.

Breathing heavily due to the injection of adrenalin that was his near death experience just a second ago, Diavel looked to his left, where whoever or whatever that had saved him had crashed with Sergei. The front wall of the building to where his saviour and would be killer had crashed, which Diavel could see was a bakery, was completely broken; a huge whole going through the front door and taking a good part of the wall.

An individual jumped out from the smoke cloud that had erupted from the crash and stayed floating above Diavel's head. He tried to identify them, but, the sun was blocking his vision from where he was standing.

 **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Roar** **!"** The blunette heard her, from what he could tell, the voice was female, call out before breating a fireball made of the hottest flames that Diavel had ever felt; and there was still quite the distance, or height, between him and the female mage, so the fact that he could feel some of the heat from where he was on the ground spoke of the heat of those flames.

The fireball of red-hot flames crashed against the bakery, senting it aflame and breaking even more of the building. A few seconds later, there was an explosion – which Diavel guessed was due to the flames reaching the gas canister inside the bakery – that brought the whole building down on itself and on top of the dark mage still inside.

* * *

 **08:35, August 5th, X784, Dandelion Mines, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 **" Card Knives** **!"** With a mental order and use of his Telekinesis, Tubalcain shot fifteen of his cards like throwing knives at the pinkette in front of him.

Using his agility and speed, Natsu dodged the in coming cards with cartwheels, frontflips and twirls, getting closer to Tubalcain as he did so.

Bringing three cards to his front, Tubalcain called out, **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Bubble Shot** **!"** Bubbles shot from the cards; sailing through the air as fast as bullets and with the same piercing power as them as well.

Natsu came to a stop as he eyed the torrent of bubbles coming at him with the objective of turning the dragon slayer into swiss cheese. Taking a big breath, Natsu breathed out a column of fire at the opposite elemental attack, **"** **Fire Dragon's Roar** **!"**

The two spells of opposite elements clashed against each other, resulting in a stalemate as the water put out the fire and the fire evaporated the water. A cloud of steam rose as the spells cancelled each other out, clouding the vision of both mages.

Even without his vision, though, Natsu still had his hearing and sense of smell. It was thanks to his hearing, though, that he heard the whistle of a object cutting throw the air coming in his direction from behind him.

Glancing over his shoulder, the pinkette saw four spinning disks coming at him. Annoyed at his opponent's little projectiles, Natsu spun around on his right foot while igniting his right hand on fire.

 **" Fire Dragon's Slash** **!"** With a swipe of his flaming hand, the four disks were burned to ashes. Natsu ears then twitched as he heard more spinning disks coming at him from all sides.

Grunting in annoyence, Natsu incased his body in an aura of fire, before pushing the flames away from him as he called out, **"** **Fire Dragon's Heat Wave** **!"**

A wave of fire sprout out from the dragon slayer in a perfect circle, burning all of the spinning disks to ash; just like what happened to the previous ones. The heat wave also had the effect of blowing the steam cloud away, showing Tubalcain still in the same spot as before. He seemed the same, still having that smug grin on his face, but, to the dragon slayer, he seemed different, he _smelled_ different.

Pushing that to the back of his head, Natsu ignited his fists and ran at the dark mage once again, "You can't run away from me forever, bastard!"

Tubalcain only laughed at his opponent's words, "I'm afraid that I disagree with that statement, boy!" To further emphasize his own statement, the fedora wearing man danced around the dragon slayer's fists, before, quick as lightning, he drew four cards into the space between his fingers and went for a slash at the pinkette's face with the cards in his left hand.

Natsu easily ducked under the swipe, but, Tubalcain had forsaw that and had moved his right hand to slash at where Natsu's head would be when he ducked. With owned reflexes, however, the pinkette dropped to his knees and bent backwards, avoing the card swipe by a hair.

Not to be deterred, the dark mage pivoted on his right foot as slided away from the Natsu and whiped the razor-sharp cards on his right hand at the dragon slayer; who was watching him from his position upside down on the ground.

 **" Card Knives** **!"** He called out as his cards cut through the air like real knives, wanting to draw the blood of the dragon slayer.

Not particularly wanting to be cut more than he already had been by his enemy's Weretigers, Natsu rolled out of the way of the sharp projectiles sent at him.

Coming to a stop in a crouching position, the dragon slayer inhaled some air, before breathing out fire once again, this time in the form of a massive fireball, **"** **Fire Dragon's Roar** **!"**

As the ball of red and orange flames got closer and closer to his person, Tubalcain's smug grin never faded from his mouth.

 **" Card Dimension** **!"** Sending the four cards that he held in his left hand into the air in front of him. Tubalcain watched as they floated into a four point square formation facing the incoming fireball. His cards then started glowing and, when the flames reached them, instead of burning through them, they were _stopped_ and _absorbed_ by the four cards. Tubalcain's smug grin turned into a shit eating one at the expression of disbelieve of the pinkette.

"Oh, no need to make that face, boy. Here, have your flames back," moving his arm forward, the dark mage called out, **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Fire Dragon's Roar** **!"**

At his command, his four cards released the dragon flames that they had just absorbed. However, this time, the target of the flames was their master. Caught off guard, Natsu was hit by his own flames. They did not burn him – thanks to this scales – but, the the concusive force was enough to send him flying backwards. He crashed through three wagons full of rocks and gold before coming to a stop on his back.

 _'Damn, this must be how Gray felt that time when I hit him with a Roar for making fun of my hair,_ ' thought the pinkette. He was pulled out of his thoughts when his insticts – gained from the many brawls he participated in during his time at Fairy Tail, and polished with his spars against Atlas – told him to move. Trusting his gut as always, Natsu rolled to his right, just in time to avoid being hit by a thunderbolt.

He quickly got to a kneeling position before cartwheeling out of the way from another thunderbolt. It became a game of cat and mouse as Natsu tried to get close to Tubalcain while avoiding the rain of lighting coming down on him.

"Hahaha! Dance for me, boy, dance! You know, you should've chose to be a dancer instead of a mage. That way I would pay to see you dance instead of being in our current predictment," taunted the dark mage. Drawing out more cards from his pockets, he said, "Well, let's see what other moves you have, boy! **Explosion Card** **!"**

Things were not looking good for the pinkette dragon slayer, for now he also had to avoid explosive cards along with the thunderbolts raining down on him. To add up to his bad luck, he was tired from all of the fighting that he done since dawn. Even for someone like Natsu, fighting against tens of C-Class, and some B-Class, dark mages, followed by a fight against an A-Class mage and his Celestial Spirit – which Natsu would say was also A-Class – and then ending it with a fight against fourty Lizardmen and Weretigers, was exausthing; even when not counting on the wounds that he got from those fights.

He still had some stamina left, but, not enough that he could take the luxary of letting his opponent, which was at least low S-Class or high A-Class, play cat and mouse with him. No, Natsu needed to knock the man down and fast.

"I'm tired of playing around! **Requip: Fire Dragon's Gauntlets** **!"** The pinkette stated as he requiped his trusted gauntlets while jumping to his left, avoiding another thunderbolt. Thanks to his draconic eyes, he was able to see three incoming explosive cards on his way.

Crossing his arms in a cross guard in front of his chest and igniting his gauntlets, the dragon slayer called out his spell, **"** **Fire-Make: Fire Dragon's Shield** **!"**

The flames shrouding the gauntlets expanded in front of their master, making a fire shield the size and width of Natsu's height, fully covering the dragon slayer from the three explosions that came two seconds later as Tubalcain's cards hit the fire shield and exploded. The explosions didn't damage Natsu at all, however their impact did sent him slidding backwards a few feet.

' _Now's my chance!'_ Taking advantage of the cloud of dust and smoke that rose up due to the explosions, Natsu cocked his right fist back as he ignited it once more. Punching forward at the direction of Tubalcain's smell, a huge fist made of red-orange flames shot forward from his right gauntlet.

 **"** **Fire-Make: Fire Dragon's Fist** **!"**

The dragon slayer's spell travelled the distance between Natsu and Tubalcain in an instant, blowing through the smoke cloud and scarring the earth as it made its way towards its target.

"What the-?" Caught off guard by a spell of such caliber, the fedora wearing mage had no time to bring out his cards and absorb it and, thus, was hit and sent flying to the wall behind him. Crashing into the wall, Tubalcain screamed as the flames burned his whole body.

Not wanting to kill his enemy, no matter how vile the man was, Natsu used the better control over his flames that his gauntlets granted him to dissipate his own flames.

Once he got closer to the crashing site of the dark mage, Natsu tried to look for Tubalcain's knocked out body, but was, however, unable to find him.

"Don't tell me that I turned the guy to ash!" Yelled the dragon slayer in worry, he hadn't tried to kill the dark mage, he wasn't a killer after all. Yes, he liked to go all out in his fights and caused a great amount of destruction because of it – which had more that once make Makarov shed tears of despair because of the money that he had to waste on reparing what the pinkette destroyed – but, he was no murderer and never would be.

 **"** **Card Dimension: Release: Emera Baram** **!"**

Tensing as he heard the name of the spell, Natsu quickly turned around and his eyes widened as he saw a concentrated blast of wind blades coming at him with the speed and force of a train.

 _'That's the same spell that Erigor used on our fight!'_ The dragon slayer remembered as he brought out all of the magic power that he could muster with so little time; seconds to be precise.

 **"** **Fire Dragon's Eruption** **!"** Shouted Natsu as fire erupted from his form like an erupting volcano. Wind and fire collided against each other; the swifter of the two elements trying to continue its charge forward, while the hotter element fought to stop it.

In the end, Natsu's flames started consuming the wind while the wind started blowing some of the flames away. The two attacks eventually cancelled each other out, though, not without leaving the mines covered in a sea of fire.

Looking across him and to the other side of the mines while breathing hard due to the amount of magical power that he had just used, the pinkette spotted Tubalcain. From what he could see, thanks to his enhanced vision, the dark mage was also trying to catch his breath.

Tubalcain was shocked. He had had a plan. As the cloud of steam, that rose up due to the collision between his water spell and the boy's fire spell, clouded his and the boy's vision, he had used his Joker Card to make a double of himself once again. After hiding inside one of his cards, he let his copy do the talking while he controlled his cards from within his hideout.

Once he saw his copy being defeated, he went to the other side of the mines and drew the card that contained the most powerful spell he had in his collection. He had used too many spells already due to the two back-a-back fights that he had; first against that rune knight and now against this boy.

After releasing the Emera Baram at the pinkette, he was sure that the boy would not have enough time to dodge or mount a succesful defense against such a high ranked spell. How wrong he had been. He had underestimated the boy, for the pinkette had managed to release a tower of flames strong enough to cancel his strongest spell.

Now, with almost no magical power left and only ten cards on his person to use, Tubalcain had no other choice but to retreat. However, before he could he could draw a card to use as a distraction, he saw the boy glare at him; and Tubalcain would swear that he saw a dragon, with red scales and yellow eyes, roaring behind the boy when he did so.

The pinkette then dashed straight towards him while shooting flames from his feet to give him even more speed.

Scared, Tubalcain took out his remaining cards and threw them at his opponent with his Telekinesis, **"** **Card Knives** **!"**

The razor-sharp cards flew as fast as bullets due to their master using more magical power that was needed due to his fear. However, his cards proved to be of no danger towards the boy as he shrouded himself in an aura of fire and flew straight through Tubalcain's projectiles, burning them into ashes.

With no time to react accordingly due to his fear, the fedora wearing dark mage could only watch has Natsu got closer to him.

 **"** **Fire Dragon's Sword Horn** **!"** Shouted Natsu as he headbutted Tubalcain in the chest, taking all of the air from the dark mage's lungs. Tubalcain was then sent flying by a pillar of fire produced from Natsu's body, the second stage of the pinkette's spell, and crashed into the wall behind him.

Looking at the crashing site from his position on the floor, Natsu could see that the dark mage was realy down for the count this time. Relieved, the dragon slayer finally let himself succumb to exhaustion and passed out.

* * *

 **Well, that's that. I gotta say, this chapter was very difficult to write. I was always trying to decide if I should had more fighting or not and ended up cutting on Flare's fight against Sergei, if you can call a snick attack a fight, so that I could show a bit more of Diavel and the others. I thought that they deserved it, since I may or not bring them back into the story later own.**

 **In any case, the first arc is almost done, maybe two more chapters and we're done with it.**

 **Now, I don't know when I'll post the next chapter, since my Fairy Tail muse has been kidnapped and all. So, I would like to ask you to be patient and wait.**

 **Until next time, fellas.**


	9. Bottom Dealing

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its contend, Hiro Mashima does. I only own my OCs and the plot of this story.**

* * *

"Mage" – Talking

 _'Master'_ – Thoughts

 **"Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

 _ **'Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

 **"** **Magic** **"** – Spells

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 9 – Bottom Dealing**

* * *

 **Last Time**

 **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Roar** **!"** The blunette heard her – from what he could tell, the voice was female – call out before breating a fireball made of the hottest flames that Diavel had ever felt; and there was still quite the distance, or height, between him and the female mage, so the fact that he could feel some of the heat from where he was on the ground spoke of the heat of those flames.

The fireball of red-hot flames crashed against the bakery, senting it aflame and breaking even more of the building. A few seconds later, there was an explosion – which Diavel guessed was due to the flames reaching the gas canister inside the bakery – that brought the whole building down on itself and on top of the dark mage still inside.

* * *

 **08:32, August 5th, X784, Near the Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

 _'Dragon Slayer Magic!? So, Natsu-san is not the only one that can use it?'_ Diavel asked himself in his head as he looked at the destroyed bakery. He then turned to this left as he heard someone, a red haired girl, land beside him.

"Damn, Flare; that might have been overkill!" The captain heard a voice say and, after looking behind the red head, he spotted a yellow cat, much like Happy-san, behind the female mage. The feline was the one with the wings that he had previously thought being of the female.

"You think so, Blaze? I didn't want to hurt him too badly," Admited the mage with a look of slight guilt; Diavel immeditately concluded that she was not one to like fighting, unlike what he had seen earlier from the other dragon slayer.

The red head then turned towards him and asked, "Are you alright, sir?" She looked concerned, even when she had so many cuts and bruises all over her body; her clothes in tanters.

"Y-Yes, I'm alright. Thank you for saving me there," Diavel thanked her as he stood up from his kneeling position. He also noted that the cat, Blaze, had brought back his wings and was now on top of the girl's, Flare's, head.

"No problem, man. That's what we're here to do!" Stated the yellow furred cat while raising his rigth paw at the rune knight.

"Ok; well, I take it that you're with Natsu-san and Happy-san?"

Flare nodded in confirmation, "Yes; we went to the town hall, but the leader of Dead Man's Hand had already counted on it and trapped us there with thirty Lizardmen and Weretigers."

Blaze then continued where she left, "Then, after we beat and put down those geckos and pussy cats, we came flying back here as fast as we could. Natsu, however, smelled the leader in the mines as we passed near there and went along with Happy to beat the guy up."

Diavel was surprised to say the least. _'Thirty Lizardmen and Weretigers!? One of them is strong enough to kill a High A-Class mage, but fifteen of them? And together!?"_ He shivered had the thought of the destruction and death that so many beasts could bring together.

Shaking his head, he then asked about the male dragon slayer, "Are you sure that Natsu-san and Happy-san will be alright? The leader, Tubalcain, is no easy opponent; much less for someone that just got out from fighting against thirty Lizardmen and Weretigers." Internally, he thought, _'I sure hope that Doranbolt managed to at least get some good shots in on that bastard. It would make things easier for Natsu-san and Happy-san.'_

Flare gave the rune knight captain a soothing smile as she nodded, "Y-Yes, I'm sure Natsu and Happy will be alright. Natsu is very strong." And she believed that one hundred percent; she had got to know the pinkette dragon slayer during the last three months while they trained under Atlas-sama and Warrod-sensei and she knew that he wasn't one to give up easily – or ever.

Then, Flare, Blaze and Diavel turned to the demolished bakery as they heard rubble shift, before it was blown away in a cloud of dirt. The mage, cat and knight had to bring their arms, paws and shield to protect their eyes from the dirt. This action cost them as Flare felt pain in her abdomen, before she was sent flying into the building behind her; Blaze going with her.

Diavel didn't even have time to open his mouth to shout his surprise and shock before his shield was kicked from his arm, dislocating it in the process. The bluenette was then sent flying into a building too due to a roundhouse kick to the jaw.

* * *

 **With Flare and Blaze**

Flare groaned as she tried to focus her stunned mind; the pouding headache that she was feeling at that moment not helping the slightest.

"B-Blaze", she moaned in pain as she looked around, trying to locate her partner through the red haze – some part of her mind was still clear enough to tell her that she had blood flowing down her face from an open wound in her forehead.

The redhead located her feline partner a few feet away to her left amist the broken pieces of what was a dinning table a few seconds ago. Getting up to her hands and knees, Flare puked a wad of blood on the ground, showing that she had some internal bleeding to go along with her open head wound.

Not caring about her state of health, the dragon slayer crawled her way to her friend's side and accessed his state of health. The yellow furred cat had some bruises due to having had gone through a wall, the biggest being the one on his back. There were some cuts on his left side from when he must have crashed through the dinning table and the splinters cut to his skin. Flare's biggest worry, however, was the open head wound that he sported, similar to her own, and any internal damage that Blaze might have.

"Blaze…" she whispered in a tone full of sadness and worry. Wipping away the tears that threatned to fall from her red eyes, Flare took off her jacket before ripping the sleeves off and tying one around Blaze's head like a bandage. She then tied the other one around her forehead to try stopping the bleeding of her own open head wound.

Right after grabbing her feline partner, she heard someone crash into the apartment that she was in. Looking at the direction of the noise, she saw the man that she had buried under a bakery.

That thought brought a feeling of guilt to her heart. She wasn't one for violence; not liking when others were hurt. However, this man in front of her; he was a criminal that had been tormenting the people of Dandelion for months and had been seconds away from killing an innocent, someone who was only trying to protect his people, before she interfered.

That thought made her guilt fade away. Since she had been a child, Atlas-sama and her Giant friends had always told her that those with power should protect those that don't have it. That the strong should protect the weak. Flare had never believed that she was very strong, but she had promised to make her family and sensei proud. So, she will fight and she will use all the power she had to protect the weak and innocent.

To hear and see someone use their powers for evil made the dragon slayer angry. That said someone would use their powers to hurt others for no good reason made her furious. That they would then hurt Blaze, who had been her friend since she could remember, made her MAD!

* * *

Sergei Kravinoff had hunt many beasts and had fought many strong mages in his life.

Not once had he felt fear.

He fought against Weretigers, Minotaurs, Wyverns and Cyclopses. He once battled against mages that could control the elements, masters of the sword, shapeshifters, demon tamers and many more.

Not once had he felt doubt.

Of course, Sergei had felt fear before. Once, when he had looked at the master of Dead's Head Caucus in the eye. That… creature was no human or beast, but a demon incarnate.

What he felt right now as he looked at the furious, slitted red eyes of the girl that had tried to bury him alive, was nothing compared to what he felt from his master. It was eons away from being on the same league as what his master had made him feel at that time. Nonetheless, though, he couldn't help but feel unease.

He didn't have time to ponder much more on his unease, though, for the redhead threw herself at him with a ROAR of rage.

* * *

With red, slitted eyes seething, Flare tackled Sergei through the hole he came from and into a house on the other side of the street. Getting her bearings back, the dragon slayer quickly stranded the Seith mage's waist and unloaded a barrage of fiery punches on his face.

After the first five punches, Sergei got tired of being used as a punching bag and grabbed the redhead's next punch with his left hand, before giving her a right uppercut that got her off of him. Flipping himself up, the hunter observed the dragon slayer carefully as she got back to her feet and stood ten feet away from him.

"All that rage. You're more of a beast than human right now, aren't you, girl?"

Shaking slightly with pent up rage, Flare seethed, "You're going to pay for hurting Blaze and the people of this town."

"We live in a world where strength makes might. Survival of the fittest, girl," Sergei scoffed. "If the people of this town are too weak to defend themselves, then they deserve what they got."

Crimson flames started licking Flare's form as her fury grew, "With power comes responsability! The strong should not govern the weak, but protect and help them instead!"

"You're naive, girl! That one needs help is a sign of weakness. That they- that you are too weak to take matters to your own hands and do what you have to do!" The dark mage snapped. "If you cannot believe that, then don't worry. I shall send you to Paradise, where your naive dreams can become true!"

 **"** **Partial Animal Possession: Cheetah** **!"** A red aura surrounded Sergei's legs – the magic around his feet taking the form of a cheetah's head – before he dashed at Flare in a blur of speed.

Before she could mount a defence, the redhead was uppercutted through the roof of the building they were on and into the outside.

 **"** **Partial Animal Possession: Tiger** **!"** The dark mage called out, his arms – from the tip of his fingers to his shoulders – now surrounded by a red aura, a tiger's head surrounding each fist. Sergei then jumped outside and after the dragon slayer.

Jumping from the side of the building, Sergei got above Flare, who was still in mid-air and desorientated from his first punch. Letting out a roar of effort, the hunter punched the redhead again, this time in the gut and sending her crashing into the ground below.

Flare crashed on the street with enough force to create a sixteen feet wide crater and blow up a cloud of dirt and debris. Meanwhile, the Seith Mage landed perfectly on his feet a small distance away.

"Do you see it now, girl? This is how the world works! The law of the jungle! The strong will always stand above the weak and the weak shall always bow before the strong!"

There was silence for a few seconds, before Sergei heard something.

 **"** **Purgatory Dragon's** **…"** , Sergei's eyes widened slightly as he spotted Flare's standing form in the dirt cloud.

 **"** **Roar** **!"** Having taken a big breath, Flare released a huge stream of hell-fire at her opponent. The crimson flames ate at the pavement of the street and melted the front of the houses and stores on the sides of the street as they travelled towards their target.

Using his boost in speed, the hunter quickly dodged the attack and ran along the wall of a three storied house, before jumping off and towards the dragon slayer.

Flare cut of her spell and jumped back to avoid the dark mage's falling fist, which had enough strength behind it to crack the ground and make the crater that Flare had been standing in bigger. Sergei quickly followed after her, sending vicious punch after vicious punch at the redhead.

Letting her draconic instincts take over, Flare avoided his punches with some effort, though barely. She managed to make him follow after her until she was with her back facing the front of a smithy.

"There's no way out for you now!" Sergei bellowed as he sent another punch in the redhead's direction. Flare smirked, before she sidestepped the punch and let Sergei punch the wall behind her. Dirt and dust flew out in a cloud, blinding the Seith Mage as his fist broke a hole through the wall of the front of the smithy in front of him.

Flare took advantage of his blindness with a quick kick to his right side; her feet covered in crimson hell-flames, **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Claw** **!"**

Sergei grunted in pain from the burn effect and the power behind her kick, taking a couple of steps back and away from the redhead.

 **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Iron Fist** **!"** Flare didn't let up, however, and quickly unleashed a barrage of fiery punches and kicks on the dark mage.

Sergei grunted in pain with each punch and kick that went through his guard. Quickly getting tired of being the girl's punching bag once again, he took advantage of the small gap that Flare gave him when moving from a punch to a kick and vice-versa. Sending his right fist forward just as she retracted her left leg from a kick and moved to punch him with her right fist, Sergei hit the redhead right in the gut.

The punch took Flare's breath away, and she was even lifted a few feet above the ground due to the power behind it. Before her feet could even touch the ground again, she was sent flying into a flower shop, curtisy of Sergei's roundhouse kick.

Flare winced as she tried to get up from the floor. She had crashed through some vases and fell on top of daisies and roses, getting cut by their thorns. When she managed to get up on her feet, she was immediately grabbed by the throat, picked up and slammed against a wall.

Holding her against the wall with one hand, Sergei scoffed, "You have spirit, but in this world, spirit is not enough. No matter what you say or think, death and the law of the jungle are the only truths undeniable in this world." The dark mage then started applying more pressure to her throat, trying to suffocate the redhead to death. "Say your goodbyes, girl. Feel honored that you were killed by Sergei Kravi-!"

The hunter's speech was cut off as he was blasted off of Flare and into the wall on the other side of the flower shop by the dragon slayer's flamming feet.

 **"** **Purgatory** **…** **Dragon's** **…** **Claw** **…"** She panted out, having used her spell to shoot flames from her feet and send the Seith mage away.

Sergei growled at her as he got out of the wall he had been blasted into, "You still have some fight in you? Resistance is futile! You're weak, girl, and I'm strong. I will be the one to prevail in this hunt, and you will fall down to me!"

Having got her breath back, Flare replied, her eyes glaring a hole into her enemy, "Weak or strong, it doesn't matter in the end. A battle is much more than just strength!" The dragon slayer than ignited her fist in crimson flames and charged forward, Sergei meeting her on the center of the flowe shop's lobby.

The dark mage easily blocked her punch before throwing one of his own at the redhead. Flare ducked under it and put her hands on the floor, performing a handstand. Spinning on her hands while igniting her feet, she kicked at her opponent.

Sergei easily blocked her kick, before grabbing hold of her leg. He then spun around and sent her flying through the window of the shop and into the streets outside.

Flare's flight stopped as she crashed through the door of the smithy from before. Rolling across the wooded floor, she stopped near the wall across from the door and on the other end of the shop.

Fighting through the pain that flooded her body, cuts, skid marks and bruises marrying her skin, the redhead used the wall to help herself get back up. It wasn't only her skin and body that were in bad state, her clothes were too. Her top was cut and teared, showing a bit of the black sports bra that she wore under it, and her jeans had so many tears that they might as well be cut into shorts. Her braid had been undone too and now her crimson hair fell down her back like a waterfall of blood, beautiful even when dirty and wet from her sweat.

Thanks to her enhanced hearing, she could hear Sergei coming at her seconds before he was already there, and she used that advantage to duck and roll out of the way of a punch that would have broke her ribs if she hadn't moved out of the way; it making a hole through the wall she had been leaning against instead.

Moving her arms forward in the shape of a cross, Flare formed a very large amount of hell-fire in two massive waves shaped like fangs, which she then sent at Sergei.

 **"** **Purgatory Dragon's Twin Fang** **!** " Due to the short distance between them, the dark mage had no way of escaping and was hit by the spell's great blunt force, which sent him flying through the wall behind him and into the streets outside.

Flare walked out of the smithy through the hole of melted cement that her crimson flames had made and looked to the other side of the street. Her spell had made a trench through the paved ground, turning it into molten rock. On the end of her spell's path of destruction was a broken and slightly aflame toy store, if the sign on the ground was anything to go by.

The dragon slayer approached the site slowly and cautiously, not wanting a repeat of when she and Blaze had been caught off guard and been sent flying into a building. She beat back the worry that came up with the thought of her friend, hoping that he was alright but knowing that she needed to keep her focus on the battle at hand.

Her distraction would once again be her downfall as she heard her opponent burst out from the toy store before she actually saw him; she was, however, too slow to move in time to dodge his charge. Sergei tackled her with the force of a rhino and then kept running forward, going through the smithy, the flower shop and a house. Stopping, he then drove her into the ground with a brutal spinebuster and creating a five feet wide crater.

Flare could only feel one thing at that moment: pain. Air escaped her as Sergei's charge had taken it all away and left only pain behind. Her already cracked, if not alreadu broken, ribs were surely broken now. The dragon slayer was barely conscious, her previous fights with Stella and the Weretigers and Lizardmen catching up with her and making her feel very tired and numb. So tired was she that she could barely move a finger now.

"And now you die, girl!" Sergei declared as he readied his fist for the finishing blow that would end Flare's life.

The redhead could barely hear him, though. She could barely see too; blackness and spots starting to overwelm her vision. As her mind shut down and her consciousness left her, she could only conjure one thought.

 _'Am I… going to die?'_

Sergei brought his fist down, ready to pulvarise his prey's skull. At the last second, though, he stopped; his fist coming within an inch from touching the girl's nose.

"What the-?" The dark mage grunted in confusion as his fist was stopped not by his own volition, but because of a purple shield that came out of nowhere and protected his prey. Then, purple chains made of some kind of energy wrapped around his body and kept him immobilized.

"What is this!?" He asked to his surroudings, infuriated. He then heard the sound of marching steps and turned his head towars his right, the sight that greeted him making his eyes widened slightly.

"Those would be my **Dark Écriture: Chains** , Mr. Kravinoff," answered a young man as he pushed his glasses up with his left hand; his right one holding the chains that kept Sergei immobilized.

Sergei took a good look at the new guy. He was a slim man of average height with long, tied up black hair; two bangs framing his face and an unruly tuft covering his forehead. His lavender eyes were visible behind circular-lensed glasses.

His attire showed his affiliation with the Magic Council. It consisted of a long, blue jacket with pink edges and strapped cuffs over a high-collared shirt bearing the council's signature ankh-like symbol. His attire also featured white pants held up by a simple belt, white gloves, a white cape held closed by a gem-decorated buckle and distinctive shoes seemingly bearing a serpentine pattern.

Sergei could also see the platoon of rune knights behind the man. Clearly he was outnumbered – not that it would matter once he got free from these chains.

"Who are you to get between the hunter and his prey?" Growled the dark mage as ten rune knights surrounded him.

"My name is Lahar and I'm the Captain of the Fourth Custody Enforcement Unit," the man now named Lahar introduced himself. "You've been accused of – and caught – of performing activities that go against the laws stipulated by the Magic Council and the King of Fiore. As such, you are hereby arrested to stand on trial before the Magic Council. I advise that you come quietly. Should you resist, we are authorized to use force."

"Sergei Kravinoff has never let a prey escape before. This time shall be no different," the hunter stated as he started flexing his muscles to try break off of the chains holding him.

Seeing their prisoner fighting against his restraints, the rune knights pointed their staves at him, magic gathering at the tips of the magical weapons, ready to be shot at the criminal. Lahar, however, had already taken action.

 **"** **Dark Écriture: Sleep** **!"** Entoned the captain as he wrote runes in the air with his left índex finger. He then swung his arm out and the runes shot at Sergei like beams of purple light.

Sergei grunted in surprise as the purple beams hit him. He didn't feel any pain, but he did start feeling tired.

"What…?" The Seith mage didn't manage to say anything else as the weight of his eyelids became too much to support. His eyes closing, Sergei dropped forward asleep.

"Put some anti-magic cuffs on him and move him to one of the cells in the station," Lahar ordered two of his subordinates. They nodded and went to do as commanded as the captain then turned his attention to the other rune knights with him, "Fan out in groups of five and arrest any dark mage that you encounter. Do try to give any assistance to the injured." He then looked at the knight closer to him, "You, stay here with me. The rest of you, GO!"

As his subordinates moved to fulfill his orders, the captain turned to the man that he had ordered to stay behind, "Please help me with the girl that was fighting Kravinoff. Once we are sure that she can be moved, we shall take her to the station for medical assistance," the knight nodded and the two moved towards where the redhead's body lay inside the crater on the pavement.

As Lahar was about to try and feel her pulse by placing two fingers on her neck, he heard someone shout behind him.

"FLARE!" As the captain turned around, he saw a yellow blur comming at his direction and passing beside him. Looking at the girl once more, Lahar saw what seemed to be a yellow and red furred, bipedal cat with white feathered wings sprouting out of his back. It seemed to be insured, going by the various wounds and bruises all over its body as well as the sleeve tied around its head, most likely used to bandage a head wound.

Lahar signed to his subordinate to stand down as the cat didn't look to be hostile and was only checking on the girl. Before he could inquire whom or what the cat was, said feline turned his attention away from the redhead and focused it on Lahar and his subordinate, sending a glare at them. He took a protective stance in front of the girl, before demanding.

"Who are you and what were you going to do to Flare? Are you the ones that hurt her!?"

Lahar took a couple of steps back and brought his hand up, a look at his subordinate being enough to have him do the same. It seemed as though the cat was protective of the girl and since he didn't know anything about the feline's abilities and skill in a fight, Lahar thought that it would be prudent to not provoque it.

"My name is Lahar. I'm the Captain of the Fourth Custody Enforcement Unit of the Rune Knights serving under the authority of the Magic Council. The man beside me is my subordinate," Lahar made the introductions, before asking, "May I ask who and your friend are?"

The cat relaxed a bit, dropping his stance but not moving away from his position in front of the girl. "I'm Blaze, and this is Flare," the feline introduced himself and the redhead. "We and our friends came to this town yesterday and decided to help once we learned about what was happening."

Lahar nodded at that and opened his mouth to say something when there was another shout from a familiar voice to both him and Blaze.

"Lahar! Blaze-san!" Turning to their heads to Lahar's left and Blaze's right, both humans and feline saw Diavel running towards them.

"Diavel-san!" Blaze yelled back with a smile while Lahar signed to his subordinate to stay quiet as he chose to wait until his fellow captain reached them.

"Hello, Diavel. It's good to see that you're well."

"Yeah, well, I'm as well as I could be after everything that happened," the blunette then looked at Blaze and, upon seeing Flare behind him, his face conturned in shock and worry.

"Flare-san!" Diavel quickly went to her side to check her up; Blaze allowing him to do so as the cat knew that the rune knight could be trusted.

"How is she, Diavel-san?" Blaze asked, his face and tone showing his worry. Just like Natsu was like a father to Happy, Flare was like a mother/older sister to him. Blaze didn't know what he would do if he lost her.

Diavel let out a sigh before answering, "I'm no medic or healer, but to the best of my knowledge, she seems to only be passed out. Though, I can also feel some broken ribs and I fear that she may have a concussion." Getting up, the blunette carefully scuped up the redhead in a bride's carry, "Let's take her to the infirmary in the station. We can help her better there," he told the others. Both Lahar, his subordinate and Blaze nodded, before following Diavel.

* * *

 **08:42, August 5th, X784, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

Arriving at the station, the four humans – one being carried – and one feline went inside through the main door.

Once inside, Lahar noted that the lobby was being used as a make-do infirmary; no doubt due to the real infirmary being swamped. The ravenette then also noted something that shocked and worried him.

"Doranbolt!" Lahar voiced his shock as he quickly made his way to the other side of the lobby. There, on the ground near the stairs on the right side of the lobby, was Lahar's second-in-command. He was severely burned, second and third degree burns covering his upper body, which was topless as Doranbolt was only wearing his pants, which were all ripped and ready to fall apart.

"Doranbolt! What happened?" Lahar asked, clear worry being shown on his face as he took in his friend's state. Diavel and the others came from behind the rune knight captain and the blunette gasped once seeing his friend's state; the other rune knight doing the same.

"Well, your friend here was caught in an explosion that burned him pretty badly and broke four of his ribs, one of those having piercing his right lung," explained a female that was kneeling on Doranbolt's right side, Lahar being on the left side. She had brownish red hair that went down to the base of her neck and framed her beautiful face. She had a slender and mature body that most girls would be jealous of and wore a lab coat and a pink top – that slightly showed the top of her breasts – that's held together by a belt on her waist. She also wore a black skirt and black stiletto sandals. Her green eyes were focused on Doranbolt's form as she had him drink a red liquid; massaging the man's throat so that he would swallow it.

"And you are Miss?" Lahar inquired, though he already had deduced that she was at least a medic. The redhead gave him a kind smile as she introduced herself while using a spell to scan Doranbolt and check his health, "My name is Ryouko Mikado. I'm Dandelion Town's best doctor!"

"And also the only doctor in Dandelion Town," Diavel added from behind Ryouko as he carefuly put Flare down beside Doranbolt. The doctor stopped her scan of the rune knight before turning around and rolling her eyes at Diavel.

"Details, details," she waved him off as her hands were covered by green magic; her **Mystical Palm** spell allowing her to scan her redheaded patient.

"Blaze! Flare!" Shouted a high pintched voice. Everyone, except for Ryouko, turned to the other side of the lobby and saw a blue cat that had similarities to Blaze approach them from above.

"Happy!" Blaze greeted as his fellow flying and talking cat landed besides him and he took in his kin's appearance. Happy had bandages around his head, right arm and torso, so it was safe to assume that he had been checked up and healed already. Glad that his kin was alright, Blaze asked, "What are you doing here?"

With his signature happy smile placed on, the blue feline responded, "After we separated, Natsu and I went to the mines and confronted the leader of the bad guys. Natsu saved this guy here," Happy pointed at Doranbolt, "from being killed by the leader. He was pretty hurt, so Natsu told me to use what little I had left of my magic to bring him here. After leaving him with Dr. Mikado," here he points at Ryouko, who smiled and gave him a quick glance before focusing back on her scan of Flare's state, "she told someone to have a look at me and heal me."

Lahar and Diavel smiled at Happy while the latter said, "Thank you for bringing my friend here, Happy-san. You saved his life."

"Aye sir! It was nothing!" Happy's expression than dropped a bit, "I'm worry about Natsu, though. He was a bit low on magic and the leader didn't seem to be too insured or tired from his previous fight."

"Then I shall send some of my men to go assist Natsu-san," Lahar stated as he got up from where he had been kneeling on Doranbolt's left. Ryouko, however, stopped him before he could make any order.

"There's no need for that. Andrew took some of his friends and already went to the mines," the doctor informed the rune knight captain. She then sighed as she cancelled her **Mystical Palm** spell, "Now, this girl has a concussion, four broken ribs and a fifth badly cracked; she's lucky neither of her lungs were punctured. Her back, left ankle and right forearm are badly bruised and her left shoulder is dislocated," she listed Flare's injuries, much to the worry of everyone around her, even more for Blaze and Happy.

"She's gonna be alright, though. Right? You can heal her, right?" Blaze asked frantically, tears gathering on the corner of his red eyes. Flare was too important for him to lose. He could not lose her!

"Aye! You can make her be ok, right?" Beside him, Happy was as worried as his fellow cat. Flare was a great friend and he didn't want to lose her either. He also knew that Natsu would be really sad if his fellow dragon slayer died.

Dr. Mikado patted the heads of both cats as she smiled at them, "Don't worry, little ones. I'm Dr. Ryouko Mikado and I will never let a patient of mine die when there's something in my power to do that could save her life. Besides, her state might be bad, but she's not critical."

Both cats smilled and nodded at the doctor, before Blaze entoned, "We leave Flare in your hands, Mikado-san."

Smilling at the cats one more time, Ryouko then stood up and directed her attention to her staff, "Someone get me two stretchers! I got a female in her teens with a concussion and some broken bones and a young male in his twenties with a punctured lung! Moved it, people, move!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

 **12:05, August 5th, X784, Infirmary, Rune Knights' Station, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

The infirmary located in the rune knight's station was like anyone would expect one to be. There were six beds going perpendicular along the left wall, each with white curtains that could be closed for privacy. On the right wall from the door and in front of the beds was a desk with a swiveling stool for the doctor to seat on and do their paperwork. To the left of the desk and on the top right corner of the room, was a cabinet full of various potions and medicines, among other medical utensils.

"Ugh!" Light moaning could be heard from one of the beds. In the third bed from the door, rested a familiar young man with salmon colored hair. His face contorted as sleep started to leave him until his coal black eyes opened to the world, signifying the pinkette's awakening.

' _Where am I?'_ Natsu thought as his brain rebooted. He could feel the soft bed under him, which told him that he was at least in someone's room. Looking at the white ceiling and the curtains around him, and taking note of the strong smell of disinfectant in the room, Natsu knew that he could only be in one place.

 _'So, I'm in the infirmary of the rune knight's station? Guess someone must have come to collect me after I beat that bastard's ass and passed out,'_ Natsu guessed as the memories of the morning's events came back to him.

The dragon slayer tried to sit up on the bed, but a weight on his chest stopped him. Looking down, he saw the curled form of his adopted son, Happy Dragneel. Seeing Happy's calm expression as he slept and guessing that his partner must have been here since he was brought to the infirmary and had fell asleep, Natsu smiled.

The blue cat's sleep must have been a light one, for he started to wake up as the pinkette moved. Looking up while rubbing his right eye with his paw, any sleep Happy could've still had was pushed aside and forgotten as his face split into a happy grin.

"Natsu!" He happily shouted as he hugged his father's neck. The dragon slayer chuckled as he reciprocated the action with a hug of his own.

"Good to see you too, Happy. How are ya? Not too bad, I hope," Natsu inquired as he broke the hug and observed Happy's bandaged form. The cat nodded as he answered.

"I'm fine, Natsu. Blaze and I got off easy with just minor injuries, while you had a case of magic exhaustion and some minor injuries," Happy informed.

Natsu gave his partner an easy grin, "Oh? You a doctor now, Happy? When did this happen?" The pinkette chuckled along with the cat, before he showed a worried expression, "What about Flare? Is she alright?"

Happy gave him a nod as he replied, "Aye, she's fine. From what Dr. Mikado told me, Flare had some broken ribs, along with a couple ones that were cracked. She also got a concussion. I also heard that she lost her fight and was saved by some guy that came with the backup that Diavel called."

Natsu frowned as his son told him of his fellow dragon slayer's state. It seemed that Flare had gotten beaten up badly. He would have to go check on her and cheer her up, since he was certain that the redhead would be sad for losing her first real fight, especially when there was so much on the line.

Just then, Natsu and Happy heard the door of the infirmary open and what they guessed as a couple of people enter before the door was closed. Looking up as the white curtains around his bed were pulled back, the pinkette saw a redhead with green eyes. She wore a lab coat over a…distractive attire. Behind her, Natsu saw a man with black hair and purple eyes wearing the uniform of the Rune Knights.

"Hello, Dragneel-san. I'm Dr. Ryouko Mikado, and I must say that it is a pleasure to meet one of the saviors of our town," the doctor introduced herself with a smile, which was reciprocated by the dragon slayer.

"No need to thank me, Mikado-san. My friends and I only did what we thought was right and what anyone else would have done in our situation. Oh, and call me Natsu, please; formality is not my thing."

Ryouko giggled at him, thinking that he was cute, before nodding, "Very well, Natsu. Now then, I'm going to use a spell to check on your vitals and see if my treatment is being well received by your body. While I do that, Lahar-san here would like to ask some questions to you," the redhead informed her patient, nodding towards Lahar at the end.

The captain took that as his cue to take a step forward and introduced himself, "A pleasure to meet you, Dragneel-san. I'm Lahar, the Captain of the Fourth Custody Enforcement Unit of the Rune Knights serving under the authority of the Magic Council. If it's alright with you, I would like to ask some questions about your actions since stepping foot on Dandelion Town."

As Dr. Mikado came to Natsu's side and started using her **Mystical Palm** spell to check on his state of health, the pinkette gave Lahar a nod, "Sure, Lahar, ask away."

The captain took a seat on the other side of Natsu's bed, before starting his questioning.

* * *

 **Hello, everyone! Well, I hope you all liked this chapter, for chapter 10 will take some time to come out. I'm having a lot of my free time filled with school work, so I can't write as fast as I would like. Plus, my lazyness and lack of inspiration and a problem, too.**

 **At any rate, please review, as I love to read what you think about my stories. If you have a question or a suggestion to make, just PM or review and I'll either answer your question or see if I can implement your suggestion in this story.**

 **Until next time! TM11 checking out.**


	10. Bad Beat

"Mage" – Talking

 _'Master_ ' – Thoughts

 **"Dragon"** – Dragon and other beasts talking

 _ **'Dragon Slayer'**_ – Dragon and other beasts thinking

 **"** **Magic** **"** – Spells

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does. I only own the plot and the OCs showcased in this story.**

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Burning Will, Iron Pride**

 **Chapter 10 – Bad Beat**

* * *

 **18:00, August 5th, X784, Dandelion's Cementary, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

"Hello, friends," Diavel started, "Today we are here gathered together to pay honor to the souls of those that fell on this morning's battle. As Captain of Dandelion's Rune Knight Department, and as a member of this great town, I knew many of those who have fallen today, if only by face."

Death wasn't something that Natsu Dragneel liked to think about. He wasn't alone on that thought, for no one liked to consider how mortal people were and how small their life spans could come to.

Right now, though, as he stood on the cementary of Dandelion Town and watched the burials of those who had died in the Battle of Dandelion – as everyone had come to call it – along with their families, the pinkette couldn't keep his musings out of his mind.

Death was something that Igneel had told Natsu about, and the concept of stopping to exist had been something that the dragon slayer hadn't completly understood at the time – he had been seven or so years old at the time after all – but was nonetheless afraid of. As he grew older and stronger, though, Natsu had come to control that fear and lock it out of his mind during fights.

He would later understand Death after it took his best friend and crush.

 _'Lisanna…'_ Natsu though melancholy.

Lisanna had been the first – and if Natsu had anything to do with it, the last – friend that Natsu had lost to Death. Her death had hit him hard and, while he had seemed to his guildmates to have moved on pretty well from it, he had not.

He had cried secretly for weeks, before finally coming to terms with Lisanna's death. In moments like these, though, the feeling of loss that he had felt at that time would come back and he would have to shake it away. Thankfully, Natsu never had to go to another funeral after Lisanna's; until now that is.

Catching himself before he let his composure down, the pinkette took a deep breath. Again, Death wasn't something that he liked to muse on; he much more prefered to think of ways to enjoy his time in the land of the living while he still could.

Looking at his right, the dragon slayer noted the tears falling from the eyes of his fellow dragon slayer. Flare had woken up almost an hour after him and had been redrawn ever since she had been informed of the deaths of the villagers and rune knights that had fought against the lower ranked members of Dead Man's Hand.

Natsu, having had gone through something similar before, had guessed that the redhead blamed herself for not being strong enough to beat her opponent and thus failing to save the town's people that she could have saved had she won. Natsu and Diavel reassured her that it wasn't her fault and that no one blamed her. On the contrary, many were thankful for her having at least hold on against Kravinoff long enough for Lahar to arrive with the reinforcements. If it hadn't been for Flare, Kravinoff would have killed Diavel and certainly most of the town's people before Lahar had got there.

That had seemed to free her from some of her guilt, but Natsu had always been able to read his friends well, some times, and knew that she still blamed herself, if only partly.

 _'I'll have to help her get pass that guilt. Maybe some training will work,'_ mused the pinkette. He was taken away from his thoughts of training by Diavel clearing his throat. The blunette was standing in front of the last four graves that had been dung today and Natsu, along with those gathered, focused their attention on him.

The blunette stepped closer to the first grave on the right, "Kyle Richards; he was one of our senior knights and a nice man to everyone that met him. He could have been in my post in my stead long before I came, but refused the offer. One day, I asked him why and he told me that he was happy with what life had given him so far and that he wanted to get to pass more time with his wife and son. Being respossible for, and I quote: 'a bunch of stubborn bastards'," at hearing this, some in crowd let out a small and low laugh at such a tipical thing from the deceased fourty old man, "would be too much work and headache inducing for him, he said to me."

"You will be missed my friend; by your family, by your friends and by your colleagues. May the Lord bless you and you find your place in Heaven." After a minute of silence from everyone gathered, Diavel stepped to the grave on his left and continued.

"Percival Graham. He and I didn't get along that well; he disliked me for, and I quote: 'having stole his thunder' as the star of this department. We became quite the rivals and tried to outdo each other in anything that we could think of."

"During the takeover of our town by Dead Man's Hand, he saved my life; something I thanked him profoundly for. Do you know what he told me? He said, and I quote: 'I won't let you die before you admit that I'm the better knight.'," coughing a bit to get his emotions under wraps, the blunette continued, "I never told you this, Percival, but there was a point when I was envious of your skill in battle and your ability to make quick decisions. You may be gone now, but know that I've always recognized you as my rival and equal." After another moment of silence, the captain moved to the next grave.

"Rin Emiya. We all know how Mr. Emiya was; a grumpy bastard with the sharpest eyes I know of. Almost on his sixties and the old man could still catch you stealing from his store a mile away. Most of the thieves our department caught were arrested for trying to steal from his store, though none was successful. Many times did I wonder if he could read minds, or if he had some kind of Eye Magic," he let out a sad laugh at that, along with those in the crowd that knew how the late grocery store owner was.

"May you rest in peace, Mr. Emiya. Know that you will missed by all of Dandelion." Another moment of silence later and Diavel came to the last grave.

"Kibaou," everyone could hear the voice of the captain almost breaking as he voiced his best friend's name, "he was by second-in-command, by best friend and my brother in all but blood. We started in the Academy together, we bunked on the same room together and we have fought together." The blunette paused to take a deep breath and try to calm his emotions.

"Kibaou was not an easy man to befriend. He wasn't nice or thoughtful of others' feelings. If he had a problem with you, he would say it to your face and probably start a fight if you wounded his pride. But…" here Diavel paused again to take another fortfying breath, "But Kibaou was also loyal and brave. No matter if you didn't like him or if he didn't like you, you could count on him to watch your back. He would moan and wine about it, but in the end, he would do his part of the work and he would do it to the best of his abilities."

"You'll be missed, brother,"Diavel continued, "but you won't be forgotten. None of those that died today will be forgotten. Their sacrífices for the freedom of Dandelion will **not** be forgotten!" He declared loudly and the crowd cheered through their tears.

* * *

 **20:22, August 5th, X784, Town Square, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

A couple of hours later, the mood in Dandelion Town did a complete one-eighty. The sadness and the crying had been pushed aside so that the people could now party and celebrate their freedom.

Even though there hadn't been much time to prepare, the party was going well and the people of Dandelion were having a blast. People were eating and drinking together, telling jokes and laughing at each other. The kids, meanwhile, were watching the few mages that had come with Lahar's reinforcements put on a show for the town's entertainment.

People watched, shocked and amazed as a mage bent iron to his will, making it take various forms. Another mage amazed the crowd by making roses blossom in front of every female at attendance, making many of them blush. A Snow Mage used his mastery over his element to make snow fall slighty. A Shadow Mage entertained the crowd by making a story come to life with his shadow puppets. More mages came to entertain the crowd: an illusionist, a pyromancer, a card mage and some others.

Seeing everyone having so much fun, there was no way that a certain dragon slayer would be kept from the fun.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen," announced a middle aged man with green hair and brown eyes who had taken up the job as the magic show's announcer, "Our next mage is a wild one! Known for his powerful and rare fire magic and roudy spirit! I give you one of Dandelion's Saviours, the Salamander, Natsu Dragneel!"

The crowd applauded and cheered loudly for one of the mages responsible for the freedom that they were celebrating at that moment. Said saviour decided to do a big entrance and so used his to fly around in the air before landing on the middle of the stage in a crouching position.

"I'm all fired up!" Natsu declared as he stood up and breathe a **Fire Dragon's Roar** into the air, amazing the crowd greatly. Then, using what he had learned of Pyrokinesis from Warrod's books, the pinkette took control of his flames and started some sort of fire dance.

Once he was done, the people cheered and clapped in appreciation for the great performance. Natsu waved to the crowd before leaving the stage. Walking around and looking for some meat to eat, Natsu heard someone call for him.

"Hey, Natsu!" Turning to his right, the dragon slayer saw Doranbolt approaching him; the Teleportation Mage having forgon his cape for the party. He was also sporting some bandages on his arms and head, signs of his fight against Tubalcain.

"Oh, hey, Doranbolt! How ya doing?" Natsu inquired after raising a hand in greeting to the rune knight.

"I'm doing well, thanks to you," Doranbolt thanked. "Great show you gave there. I didn't know that Fire Magic could be used that way."

"Magic can be used in lots of ways," the pinkette told the ravenette with a smile, "At least that's what Gramps and Warrod always told me."

"I see," Doranbolt nodded, before coughing, "Well, I have something to tell you. You see, early in the day, Lahar and I reported to the Magical Council. They weren't happy with the fact that a town was conquered by a dark guild and that no one found out about it for three months."

The dragon slayer scoffed, "I'm sure that they aren't happy either with the fact that I, a former member of the guild that gives them a lot of trouble, was one of the people responsible for saving this town and doing their job. Ain't I right?"

Doranbolt gave Natsu a small chuckle, "Yeah, that too. The Council isn't particularly happy with your involvement in this case. At any rate, as the collateral damage done to the town is not that much compared to the norm for Fairy Tail, plus the fact that the townspeople didn't make any complaints about the destruction, the Council won't be giving you and your group any trouble. The fact that you have been quiet in your destruction tendicies since your… banishment from Fairy Tail until now was a point in your favor too."

Natsu gave the man a smile, "No need to be afraid of mentioning my banishment. I've come to terms with it." The pinkette's stomach then growled and the two chuckled, "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to find something to appease this big boy."

The rune knight nodded with a smile, "Sure, then I'm going to see if I can drag Lahar's ass from the station. That man is such a stick in the mud." Both mages then turned away from each other and went their separate ways.

* * *

 **20:30, August 5th, X784, Town Square, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

While almost everyone was partying, Flare wasn't in the mood to join them. She could not get her mind off of her fight against Sergei Kravinoff, the Seith Mage of Dead Man's Hand that she failed to defeat.

 _'Natsu managed to beat the leader, even after fighting all of those beasts and that swordsman'_ , the redhead though. _'I, on the other hand, only managed to beat Stella and, though I did take down some of those Weretigers and Lizardmen, Natsu still took down more than me.'_ Looking down at her hands as she sat on the floor, hiding behind a building so as to not bring attention to herself and ruin another's mood, Flare's eyes started watering.

 _'I wasn't strong enough,'_ she admonished herself. _'I couldn't do anything against Kravinoff. I'm weak!'_ She sobbed as her depressed mind took her back to the funeral that took held earlier in the day. _'It's my fault that those people died! If I had been stronger, I would have beaten Kravinoff quicker and maybe saved them!'_

"Now, why is a young woman as beautiful as you doing here crying, dear?" Flare looked up and let out a gasp as she heard the question. Looking to her left as she heard the sound of heels clanking on the stone that paved the streets of Dandelion Town, the redhead took notice of another redhead slowly approaching her.

"Dr. Mikado?" the dragon slayer inquired with confused eyes.

The healer took a seat beside the distraught teenager and smiled at her, "Yep. But you can call me Ryouko right now as we aren't patient and doctor right now. Now, answer my question. Why is a young woman as beautiful as you doing here crying? You should be enjoying the party! It's because of you and your friends that we are now able to throw it."

Flare looked back to the ground as tears continued to fall, "I don't think I desserve to enjoy the party. Natsu did more than I did. He beat the leader of Dead Man's Hand, while I couldn't even beat Kravinoff." She sobbed harder as she continued, "It's because of me that those that were buried earlier died! If I had been stronger, I would've beaten Kravinoff quicker and maybe saved most if not all of those that died!"

Flare leaned her face against her knees and cried; she was sad that people that she could've saved died and angry at her own weakness. Suddenly, though, she felt an arm worm its way around her shoulders and bring her head to rest against something soft. Looking up, she saw Ryouko smiling softly at her and noticed that she was resting her head against the doctor's ample breasts.

"Shh. It's alright, dear," Dr. Mikado whispered calmly to the mage. "The deaths of those that chose to fight for our freedom are not your fault. You are only one person, dear, you cannot save everyone. Believe me, I've tried," the older redhead told the younger redhead, the healer's tone trailling own at the end, her eyes unfocusing as she went down memory lane for short period of time.

"Death is the only assurance in life," Ryouko said after getting back to the present. "No one can escape it for long, for it will catch up eventually. Death is swift and quick, but it can be painful and long. More importantly, though, Death is impartial. It does not care for who it takes to the next great adventure."

"The (sob) next (sob) great (sob) adventure?" Flare asked in between sobs, her full attention on the older woman.

"Yes, the next great adventure," Ryouko repeated. "It's something that my grandfather used to tell me. He always believed that we should not fear Death, for it is unvoidable, and that we should live life to the fullest instead, so that we can part for what comes after death with no regrets," the healer smiled as she remembered her grandfather. "He believed that there was life after death. And he also believed that someone never truly died if there was still someone that remembered the dead and their deeds."

"What does that mean?" the dragon slayer inquired, feeling calmer now, though with still some tears in her eyes.

Looking down at the teenager in her arms, Dr. Mikado replied, "It means that, if someone and what they did in the world of the living is still remembered, then that person never truly dies. That person will live in the memory of those that still remember them. Until someone is completely forgotten, no one truly dies." The doctor then smiled, "That's what my grandfather believed and I agree with him on that."

"I… I see," Flare said after mulling the doctor's words in her mind for a few moments. "I can agree with what you said, but…" she trailed off, looking down again as tears gathered in her eyes once more. "I'm still weak. How can I be of help to my friends, if I'm weak?"

Grabbing the dragon slayer's chin with her left hand, Ryouko gently forced the younger redhead to look up at her. "Strength comes in many ways, Flare-chan. One doesn't need to be powerful to be strong," she told the mage. "As for how you can be of help to your friends? Well, there are many ways for you to help Natsu-san, Happy-san and Blaze-san other than fighting alongside them."

Looking at the healer with confusion plainly showed on her face, Flare asked, "What do you mean? How else can I help them than by fighting?"

Dr. Mikado continued to smile at her as she answered, "While I believe that you should be able to defend yourself, if fighting is not for you, you could always try other things. Healing, for example," the doctor suggested. "I may be bias towards the profession, but I believe that a healer is just as important as a fighter. How can a fighter fight if he doesn't have a healer to heal their wounds?"

And with that, the seed was planted in Flare's head.

* * *

 **08:20, August 7th, X784, Southern Gate, Dandelion Town, Fiore**

In the early morning, two days after the Battle of Dandelion, we could find our dragon slayers and their cats at the southern gate of the town.

"Leaving so soon? Why don't you guys stay for a little longer?" Diavel inquired as he stood at the gate, facing Natsu, Flare, Happy and Blaze.

The blunette wasn't the only one there to say goodbye, though. Praticaly every citizen of Dandelion Town was there to see their town's heroes off. Dr. Mikado, Andrew, Anna, Lahar, Diavel and Doranbolt were the ones at the front of the masses.

"Sorry, but we gotta get going. We have to find our parents and there are theses ruins that we want to check up. They may have some clue for us to follow," Natsu explained apologetically.

"It's ok," Anna assured them. "But don't forget to come back and visit, ok?"

"Yes, you'll always be welcomed in Dandelion," said Andrew.

Lahar and Doranbolt were the next to step up; the former being the first to speak, "Thank you for stepping up when we didn't."

"Yeah, and try to keep the destruction to a minimum," Doranbolt advised in a joking tone. "Wouldn't want to have to arrest the guy that saved my life. Plus, Fairy Tail already gives us enough trouble, even without you there anymore."

Natsu flinched only slightly at the reminder that he no longer was part of Fairy Tail. It had been three months, more or less, since he had been banished for stealing a S-Class job and bringing a non S-Class mage along, thus putting her, Lucy, in danger. The pinkette understood Gramps' decision and, although it pained him then and still did now, he would bare with it and go on with his life.

"Yeah, we'll try, but no promises," the dragon slayer told them outwardly.

"Aye!" Happy gave his own assurance.

While this was happening, though, Flare approached Dr. Mikado, Blaze on top of the younger redhead's head.

"Uh, I wanted to thank you for… helping me with my doubts," Flare thanked, before a fire grew in her eyes and she looked at the healer with determination. "I promise that I'll studied the books that you gave me and become a great healer. Thank you for showing me how I can help my friends without having to fight."

Ryouko smiled softly at the young woman as she responded, "You're welcome, Flare-chan. I'm sure that you'll become a great healer some day and make me proud."

"Aye! Flare is gonna be the best healer in the world!" Blaze announced loudly, obviously believing that his partner could do it.

Ryouko giggled at the cat's enthusiasm, "I'm sure she will. Do make sure to take care of her, Blaze-kun."

"Aye! Live it to me!"

A couple of minutes later, Natsu, Flare, Happy and Blaze left; the people of Dandelion looking on as their heroes disappeared into the horizon.

* * *

 **09:00, August 7th, X784, Fairy Tail Building, Magnolia Town, Fiore**

Far away from Dandelion Town, in Magnolia to be exact, the members of Fairy Tail weren't their usually loud selves. The reason for this was that their guild had been trashed; impaled by numerous iron rods that pointed to only one culprint: Gajeel RedFox, ace of the Phantom Lord guild and the Iron Dragon Slayer.

Right now, the members of Fairy Tail were down in the basement, using the space as a temporary guild hall until the upper floor could be fixed.

Makarov watched his children as he sat on a barrel and drank his beer. Every single one of his children wanted nothing more than go out and attack Phantom Lord in revenge for the attack done to their home by the ace of the rival guild. Even though he was as furious by the attack as his children, the Third Master of Fairy Tail knew that they could not go ahead with such an act.

Guild Wars were prohibited by law, that was one of the most important rules established by the Magic Council since the end of the Second Trade War in X762. The punishment for the guilds that broke this rule was the disbanding of the guild that started the conflict – though there had once been the case of both guilds being disbanded. If the guild found guilty of starting the conflict refused to disband, they would then be considered a Dark Guild by the Magic Council.

Makarov didn't really care what the fools in the council thought about his guild, but he had the role of helping his children as they lived their lives and Fairy Tail becoming a dark guild – no matter how low the possibility of that happening was – would not help them at all. Plus, should he let the guild be marked as dark, it would be a slight to the memory of the First Master, Mavis Vermilion, and he couldn't let that happen.

"Master?" the Third Master was brought out of his thoughts by the soft voice of Mirajane Strauss. Looking at her as she came from the bar with an envelope in hand, he asked, "Yes, dear?"

"Here," the Take Over mage extended the envelope to the Titan mage, "It's a letter that was just dropped by a Magic Messenger Bird, along with two boxes. It doesn't have a sender, only the name of the guild as the recipient," she explained as the Master took the letter from her. "I thought it would be better for you to open it."

"Hm," Makarov hummed as he checked the envelope. He couldn't sense anything wrong with it; no curse, no enchantment, nothing. It was a simple and plain envelope.

 _'Who would send an anonymous letter to the guild?'_ The Titan mage wondered as he ripped open the envelope and took the letter. Checking it briefly, he gasped as he read the name on the bottom.

"What is it, Master?" Mira asked, slightly worried and getting some of the closer members to focus their attention on them.

"It's a letter from Natsu!" Makarov said, shocking the Take Over mage. Standing up on barrel, the Third Master of Fairy Tail cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Attention, everyone! I've just received a letter from Natsu!"

A collective gasp went through the Fairy Tail mages, all of them shocked at that piece of news.

"Natsu?"

"He wrote a letter to us?"

"What took him so long?"

This were only some of the comments going around as the guildmates talked between each other, all of them quite surprised at receiving a letter from one of their former members. None were more surprised – and excited – than three certain mages, though.

"Natsu wrote to us?" Lucy inquired as she made her way to the master and Mira.

"I wonder what took him so long to write," Gray wondered as he followed behind Lucy. "Betcha that he got himself in somekind of trouble and is asking us for help."

"I doubt that Natsu would ever ask for our help. Especially yours, Gray," Lucy told the Ice mage.

"EVERYONE, QUIET!" Erza roared, shutting everyone up and silencing them all. Turning back to Makarov, she asked, "Please read the letter aloud, Master. We all want to know what Natsu has been doing for the past three months."

"Of course, my child," the master agreed. Clearing his throat, he started to read.

 _"Dear, Fairy Tail,_

 _I hope that you're doing well, even though I'm no longer there to party alongside you all. I miss all you guys – Yes. Even you, Stripper!"_

"Charcoal breath!" Gray said aloud with a small smirk at the reminding of the times that he and Natsu used to trash talk with each other.

 _"In case you're wondering, I've been training for the last three months. I'm way stronger now and I bet that I could kick your ass now, Erza!"_

The redhead smiled at that comment, remembering all of the times that Natsu had challenged her and tried to beat her, only to lose every single time. But he never gave up and would always come back to challenge her again. His spirit was something that Erza admired a lot.

 _"A couple of weeks after leaving, Happy and I found this village called Sun Village. You're not gonna believe me, but the village is populated by GIANTS!"_

"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted in surprise.

"Wow, talk about luck!" Bisca commented in the background.

"Talk about the luck of a man!" Elfman added his own comment.

"Bullshit! Flame Brain is lying!" Gray exclaimed. "There's no way that this village exists."

"Oh, but it does, Gray," Makarov told the Ice mage and the rest of his children. "I've heard about Sun Village a few times in the past and it is true that the village is populated by Giants. In fact, legend says that the village was created mainly for the Giants to live in peace and away from mankind's disputes."

"I wonder what Natsu learned there," Levy voiced her thoughts. "Giants are known for living for many years. Some even centuries! The knowledge that they must have…"

As the blunette trailled off, Mira turned to Makarov, "Please continue, Master."

The Titan mage nodded before continuing reading the dragon slayer's letter, _"Yup. You heard it, Giants! But, that's not all! I also met another Dragon Slayer there! And she even has a cat partner that looks a lot like Happy!"_

" _Her name is Flare Corona and she's the Purgatory Dragon Slayer. The cat's name is Blaze. From what she told me, she was found in the forest around Sun Village by one of the Giants when she was little and they took her in."_

"Another dragon slayer?" Gray asked to himself.

"How many dragon slayers are there?" Lucy inquired below her breath.

" _Anyway, I spent a couple of months in Sun Village training while also telling Flare and Blaze about Fiore, Magnolia and you all. They never went too far outside of Sun Village, so they didn't know much about the life outside it, nor about humans, as they never interacted with any other human until Happy and I came along."_

"Poor girl. It must have been tough to grow up in a village where she was the only one of her kind," Mirajane voiced her simpathy for Flare.

"Yeah, I can't imagine how that must have been," Gray added his own two cents. The Ice mage then chuckled when a thought came to him, "Though I'm more worried with what Flame-brain may have taught her. He wasn't exactly the most enlightened guy before…leaving." Gray frowned as the memory of his rival being banished came to the front of his mind again. He quickly shook his ahead to banish those memories before he made everyone sad again.

 _"A week ago, though, Me, Happy, Flare and Blaze left Sun Village to go search for Igneel and Atlas, Flare's dragon father. It took a bit of a nagging and persuasion, but I managed to convince Blaze and her to come with Happy and I."_

Everyone chuckled at that, recalling how stubborn the pinkette could be when he got his mind focused on something.

"I believe the correct wording is Happy and me," Levy said.

"Candle-head can't even spell right. Guess he didn't learn anything from Erza," Gray said, before freezing when he felt a cold feeling going through his spine – and not the good kind that his Magic often gave out. Turning around very slowly, he noticed a very angry redhead glaring at him.

"Are you insulting my teaching skills?" Erza asked Grat, a dark aura surrounding her and scarring everyone away from the two mages.

Gray shook his head frantically in denial, "No! No! I'm insulting Flame brain's learning skills!" Sweat was already drenching his whole body due to the Ice mage's fear of being punished for unknowingly insulting the Titania.

Thankfully for him, Erza scoffed, before turning away from him; Gray let out a sigh of relief at that.

"When I find him, I'm going to force him to write 10,000 lines!" Erza declared and everyone gulped, feeling sorry for Natsu whenever he and the redhead crossed paths again. Makarov then decided that it was best to continue reading.

 _"Two days ago, we arrived at Dandelion Town and found that a dark guild called Dead Man's Hand had taken over the town for three months. They had captured all of the local rune knights, killed the few wandering mages that came by and were forcing the males to work on the mines behind the town."_

The mood in the basement dropped at this piece of news and all of them became angry at the mention of how a dark guild had done such horrible acts. Mira put a hand on her mouth when thinking about how the villagers of Dandelion must have felt for over three months under the rule of a dark guild. These news stroke a cord with Erza too, due to her time as a slave in the Tower of Heaven.

"How could a dark guild take over a town without anyone knowing?" Macao voiced his shock. "And how did no one find out about it for three whole months!?"

"Most likely the leader must have kept the daily business in the town going as smoothly as he could, so as to not bring attention to what was happening," the Master told them his theory. "Dandelion is far away from most towns, so not many people go there unless they have to. They get most of their income with import and export of the gold found in their mines and other little things."

"The perfect target for a take over, then," Levy voiced.

Makarov nodded in agreement, "Yes. Plus, since Natsu said that the local rune knights were kept alive, then they most likely were blackmailed to make fake reports to their superiors in the Council. Quite ingenious of them, and worrying." If a small dark guild like Dead Man's Head could think of such a plan and go through it for three months without being found out, then what were the big time dark guilds from the Baram Aliance capable of?

Deciding to put such dreadful thoughts to rest and for later pondering, the Master went back to reading his child's letter, _"Well, you all know me, I couldn't let shit like this go one without getting involved. So, Flare, Blaze, Happy and I made a plan to take down Dead Man's Hand."_

Gray snickered at that, "Plan? Since when does Charcoal-breath have any brain cells to plan anything?" There were some laughs among the members of the guild as they tried to think of Natsu of all people coming up with a plan that wasn't simply going up to the enemy and beat them up.

When everyone stopped laughing, the Master continued, _"The plan went well; Happy and I took out the guys occupying the Rune Knight Station and freed the rune knights, who then joined us in the fight. There was this guy from Dead Man's Hand that could summon spirits like you, Lucy. And he was a swordsman too, but nowhere near as good as you, Erza."_

The blonde and redhead perked up at hearing that Natsu had faced someone that utilized their magic and fighting style respectively. Erza also smiled at the pinkette's compliment of her skills, a small blush showing on her cheeks showing how flattered she was.

 _"That bastard wasn't really that strong, and he really pissed me off with the way that he treated his spirits. He even had the fucking gall to stab Persia, the spirit that he had summon to double team me, in the back just so that he could stab me too!"_

Everyone voiced their anger at that, Lucy specially. As a Celestial Spirit mage that saw her spirits as friends to cherish and treat well, she dispised anyone that treated Celestial Spirits like they were tools. For the others, they were of the same opinion as Lucy. Spirits were a Celestial Spirit Mage's partners and nakama and the thought of anyone stabbing their nakama in the back infuriated them.

 _"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can imagine how angry I was after that. Don't worry, Lucy, I made sure to beat the bastard black and blue for disrespecting a spirit in your place."_

The blonde smiled at the thought of such a awful Celestial Spirit mage being beaten up by the pinkette that had brough her to her dream guild.

 _"After that, me and Happy made our way to the town hall, where the leader of Dead Man's Head and the his right hand man were staying at. We met up with Flare and Blaze, who both had went to the mines and freed the men there. She and Blaze kicked real ass from what Blaze told me. Flare even took out some woman that could control her hair to take various shapes and make it as hard as gold."_

"Using hair to fight? That's kind of wierd, if you ask me," Gray said.

"Yes, but it is indeed quite ingenious," Erza told him. "No one would expect someone to fight with their hair. If that woman's hair could take various shapes and become as hard as gold, then she could prove to be a tricky opponent due to her magic's versatility."

"I don't know how anyone could use their hair as a weapon," Lucy said as she brushed a strand of her blonde hair. "I certainly wouldn't be able to. What if it got cut? Or dirty? My beautiful hair!"

Ignoring the blonde's vanity, Makarov went on with reading the letter, _"I knew that Flare was strong, no matter how much she may think otherwise. At any rate, though, we then went to the town hall to confront the leader and his right hand man. That's when things started going down hill. The bastard was expecting us and left us to fight fifteen Lizardmen and fifteen Weretigers that he summoned with his Card Magic."_

Everyone let out a collective gasp at hearing that piece of news. Lizardmen and Weretigers weren't some stupid monsters easy to take down. Alone, an adult Weretiger or Lizardman could give an A-Class mage some trouble, five of either of them would give a lot of trouble. A collective thirty of those beasts? Even an S-Class of Erza's caliber would have trouble fighting so many.

 _"But, don't worry, guys. I'm alright and the others too. Some scars and bruises here and there, but overall, we're fine,"_ Makarov read, his hands, which had been grimping the piece of paper tightly, relaxing a bit. Everyone else also relaxing at hearing that.

 _"After those geckos and pussy cats were put down, we all split up. Me and Happy went after the leader, while Flare and Blaze went after the other guy. I found the bastard ready to kill a rune knight that had come ahead of the reinforcements that the head boss of the local rune knights, Diavel, called. His name is Doranbolt and thankfully, Happy and I managed to get there in time to stop the bastard from killing him."_

 _'Mest,'_ the Third Master thought of the mage that he had sent to infiltrate the Magic Council. He was very glad that, even without knowing so, Natsu had saved a member of their family.

"Uh," Gray grunted. "Pinky saving a rune knight? Now that's something you don't hear everyday." Some of the others nodded at that, agreeing that it was strange for a Fairy Tail mage – Natsu was still one of them; banishment be damned – to save someone from the Council.

 _"The jackass wasn't that strong, really. But he did have smarts, I'll give him that. He mainly used his cards to attack me with all kind of elemental spells and some others. I think the trick behind his fighting style was that he absorbed the spells of others into his cards and then released them when he wanted. I'm not sure, but he did manage to absorb my Roar and then send it back at me. Not that it did him any good."_

" **Card Dimension** ," Cana murmured from her place seating on top of a barrel. Noticing others looking at her, she explained, "It's a spell that normaly traps people inside pocket dimensions and turns them into cards. It can also be used to store objects, such as clothes, but I've never heard of anyone storing a _spell_ in it." Taking a sip of her beer, she then continued, "Maybe I should try do something like that. I can see how that could be pretty useful."

"Yes," Erza nodded in agreement. "You could store spells such like Gray's **Ice-Make** , Macao's **Purple Flare** or anyone's really." Looking at the brunette, the redhead smiled, "With the right spells and experience, which you alright have, you could become quite stronger."

Clearing his throat, Makarov said, "Yes, I'm sure that Cana will become quite stronger if she believes in herself and trains to master this new tactic. Now, shall I continue?"

"Yes, please do, Master," Erza said.

Nodding, the Master continued from where he had stopped, _"After burning the bastard, I'll admit to having passed out. Ah, pretty shocked, aren't you? That I would admit to that? Well, guess I have matured a little."_

"The boy finally grew up to be man! I'm so proud!" Elfman stated with teary eyes.

Mirajane hugged her brother to console him. "Shhh," she soothed, "There's no need to cry. We are all proud of Natsu."

"Hmph, doubt that Ash breath could mature much in three months," Gray mumbled to himself.

Cana sipped on her drink, "But what if he did? After all, it's in the letter. I for one think that he wouldn't send us a joke letter. There's enough proof of that in the letter."

"Still think it's impossible."

Ignoring Gray, Makarov continued reading, _"I woke up some hours later in the infirmary of the Rune Knight Station. From what I was told, Sergei Kravinoff, the leader's right hand man, led a group of more or less forty dark mages from Dead Man's Hand to attack the town; Doranbolt having used his_ **Teleportation** **Magic** _to separate the leader from them."_

"Fourty dark mages, plus one mage of A-Class skill…" Erza trailed off, clearly worried about the town's people's survival against such a force.

"You don't think…" Mirajane gasped.

"Those aren't great odds if you're a small group of mages," Gray said. "If the only ones fighiting were the local Rune Knights…"

Seeing the mood of his children lowering, the Titan mage coughed to bring their attention to him, "It's of no use to worry about that now, as it has already happened. Nonetheless, I'm sure we will find out what happened if we continue to read Natsu's letter." Getting nods from his children, the Master went back to reading.

 _"Diavel told me that he and his men, plus the men that had been forced to work on the mines, took up weapons and fought to protect Dandelion-"_

"Those men were real MEN! To get up and protect their home is manly!" Elfman interrupted.

Ignoring the Take-Over mage's outburst, Makarov continued reading, _"-and they did take out most of the dark mages. I'm telling ya, I ain't underestimating an armed civilian ever again. Not if what I was told about how most of those workers fought is true."_

Erza remembered how she, her friends and the other prisoners in the Tower of Heaven had revolted against their jailers. They had all been civilians or mages without access to their magic, but nonetheless, they had fought with every fiber of their being for their freedom. Yes, she could agree with Natsu's comment. One should never underestimate anyone, be them a civilian or a mage, when said person is fighting for what they believe in and has nothing to lose.

 _"Well, as much as I would have liked it for everything to have gone well, by now I know that anything that a Fairy Tail wizard gets involved with is not going to end well."_

"Don't I know it," Lucy said. "I think there hasn't been a job done by members of this guild that didn't end with at least something being destroyed as collateral."

"Hey, Team Shadow Gear never destroyed anything that they shouldn't have," Jet told the blonde.

"Yeah, most of the destruction is always done by either Gray, Elfman, Erza, Natsu and the other more destructive members," Droy added.

"Touché," Lucy answered.

"I have a bad feeling," Mira whispered to Erza and the redhead nodded, also feeling like the problem that Natsu mentioned in the letter isn't only the destruction done to Dandelion.

 _"The people of Dandelion took out many of the dark mages, but there were also casualties on our side."_

"Oh, god!" Mira gasped along with Lucy, Levy and some others. Gray clenched his teeth, Elfman closed his hand tight, the same has Erza, whose hair was hiding her eyes as she remembered Rob's death. Mira hugged her brother as both thought of their little sister's death too.

Makarov gripped the paper thightly as he continued reading the letter, _"Many good men died while fighting for their home and their freedom. Diavel almost joined them, had not it been for Flare and Blaze arriving in time to stop Kravinoff from killing him."_

"Saving people is manly!" Elfman stated, though in a more subdued tone due to the heavy atmosphere that filled the basement.

 _"As I was told, the bastard uses the same magic as Nab and, according to Flare, he was pretty strong. She got her ass kicked pretty badly and was almost killed if not for Lahar, the leader of the reinforcements, arriving and stopping the asshole with the same kind of magic as Freed's."_

"Who?" Lucy asked Gray.

"Freed's a member of Laxus' group, the Thunder God Tribe. He uses a type of Letter Magic known as Dark Écriture."

 _"As I write this letter to you all, it has been a day since Battle of Dandelion, as the town's people have come to call it. The funeral was yesterday, but thankfully, there was a party afterwards to rise the mood up a bit, for which I'm glad. You know that I don't like being sad."_

Everyone smiled a little bit at that. Yes, 'Natsu' and 'sad' weren't words that one could put in the same sentence. Back when Lisanna died, even though he was one of the people hit the hardest by her death, Natsu still bounced back and smiled. He moved on, just like he knew Lisanna had wanted him to.

 _"Anyway, getting back to the good news. Every member of Dead Man's Hand was captured and, as the guy that beat that Celestial Spirit mage, I got to keep his things as spoils. Since I ain't a Celestial Spirit Mage and promised Persia to get him a master that would be his friend, I've sent his key, as well as Black's other two silver keys, along with this letter. I'm pretty sure you guys can figure out who they are for."_

"Really!?" Lucy asked excitedly as she moved to the counter and took the smaller box in her hands. "Natsu sent me three silver keys?"

"He knows that you will be a great friend to their spirits, Lucy," Erza told her with a smile. "And I completly agree with his judgment."

"Erza's right, Lu-chan," Levy added. Gray, Mira, Cana, Elfman and many others nodded along in agreement.

"Thanks, guys," the blonde said. She then opened the little box and gasped as she took the three silver keys with her right hand. "The Gate of the Furnace, Fornax. The Gate of the Wolf, Lupus. And the Gate of the Indian, Persia," Lucy called as she looked at each key with a smile. Bringing them to her chest, she thought, _'Thank you, Natsu.'_

Smilling at the happiness showed in his child's face, Makarov continued reading, _"As for the other package, that's Black's rapier; Lambet Light, he called it. And, though I learned a bit about weapons and how to fight with one, I'm no swordsman. So, I've sent the rapier for you to use, Erza."_

"For me?" Erza questioned with a small blush and wide eyes. Mira gave her former rival a little push and the redhead moved to the counter. Opening the large rectangular box, she gasped as she eyed the weapon inside. It was an one-handed rapier with a white blade, a blue handle and a circular hand guard with blue gem embedded in it.

"Beautiful," the Requip mage commented as she inspected the blade, admiring its craftsmanship. As she took the rapier into her hand, she noticed a small note beneath it. Taking it with her free hand, she read.

" _From what I saw and after some testing, Lambet Light is a magic rapier capable of changing its blade length. The blade can become longer or shorter at will and at a speed depended on the amount of magic that the wielder channels through the rapier. Too much magic and the blade will extend rapidly, too little and it will take longer to extend or retract. I hope you have fun with it and I know that you will use it better than its last owner, Erza._

 _Best of luck,_

 _Natsu"_

Erza smiled as she finished reading the note that her favourite pinkette sent with her new rapier. She was quite touched that he had so much faith in her skills. And, though most didn't see it, Mira noticed a small blush on the redhead's cheeks. The bartender smiled slyly as she eyed her former rival.

 _"I hope you two girls liked my gifts,"_ the Master continued. _"And I want you all to know that, even though I'm no longer part of Fairy Tail, I'll always consider you my family. Should you ever be in need of my help, come find me and I'll be there for ya."_

Gray scoffed at the thought of having to ask his rival for help. He and the others were more than capable of looking out for themselves.

 _"I hope you're doing well._

 _Best Regards,_

 _Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail's Salamander."_

As everyone started talking among each other about the contents of Natsu's letter, Mira looked at Makarov. "Perhaps we should reply back and tell him about the guild and about Phantom?" She suggested. "I'm sure that he would love to come and help."

The Third Master of Fairy Tail shook his head in negative as she sat cross-legged and guarded Natsu's letter in the inside pocket of his jacket for safe keeping. "No, I do not want to bring Natsu, Happy and their new friends into the problems of our guild. Natsu may have been one of us – and I still consider him as my child – but he has his own path to follow now and other things to worry about."

"I see," Mira said with a small frown. "I hope he and Happy are doing alright. The same for Flare-san and Blaze-san. What they went through in Dandelion is not something one moves on from easily."

Smilling at the bartender, Makarov told her, "Have faith, my child. Natsu's spirit and will are too strong to be brought down easily. I'm sure he, Happy and his new companions will manage to come around."

The Take-Over mage smiled at her grandfather figure, "Thank you, Master."

"You're welcome, Mira-chan," the Titan mage said as the bartender got back to work along side Lucy, who was still working at the bar, having taking a liking to it.

As Makarov settled down his seat on top of the improvised bar's counter with another beer, he thought, _'The best luck for you and your companions during your new adventures, Natsu, my child.'_

* * *

 **Hello, everyone! How have you been? My deepest apologies for how long it took for me to update this chapter, but school was a bitch to let go and I've been distracted with reading some great Harry Potter fanfics and planning other fics that I have in mind and will publish when they are ready. And then there is my laziness, I'll confess.**

 **At any rate, I hope you liked this chapter. Oh, and a big thanks to KanekoxLiamB! She helped me a lot with writing Fairy Tail's reactions to the content of Natsu's letter. Expect to see some bits of Fairy Tail as I want to show you how some events go without Natsu being there.**

 **Don't know when the next chapter will be up, though I'm hoping before the 24th. I had to remake what I had planned in the beginning as it didn't flow as I had thought it would.**

 **See ya whenever I update next!**

 **Ja ne!**


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